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Theological    Seminary, 

PRINCETON,    N.  J. 
Case, ^T"^.  '-— r:.>rr. Oiv-i&ion 

SneJf,    I ^  „/  .^-"-Section 

Book,       ^'  !^^.L.N.o.. 


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V 


1 


1-.-. 


THE  IllSTOUY  OP  MISSIONS^ 

^JL/  OR,   OF  THE       ^it^e^^^^t^^fl 

PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

AMONG  THE  HEATHEN, 

SINCE  THE  REFORMATION, 

BV  The  Rev.  WILLIAM  BROWN,  M.  D. 


ADDITIONAL  NOTES,  AND  A  MAP  OF  THE  WORLD. 

ALSO, 

A  SHORT  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  FHIST  INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  GOSPEL 
INTO  THE  BRITISH  ISLES. 

By  ADAM  CLARKE,  LL.  D.     F.  S.  A.  &c.  &c. 


"  ]Many  shall  run  to  and  fro,  and  knowledge  shall  be  increased." — Dan.  xU.  4. 
"  And  this  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  shall  be  preached  in  all  the  world,  for  a 
witness  unto  all  nations;  and  then  shall  the  end  come.— Matt*  xxiv,  14. 


FIRST  AMERICAN  EDITION. 

IN  TWO  VOLUMES. 

VOL.  II. 

PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED  BY  B.  COLES,  V.  D.  M, 
1816. 


V 


>  I  >  v.^\«  ^r  S^ 


"■-^.■VVWWX/VWVWVWVWWX 

M'Carty  &  Davis,  printers. 

WMik%/WW'VWVWVVVWX/VW 


CONTENTS 


SECOA^D  VOLUME. 


CHAPTER  SIXTH. 

Page. 

Propagation  of  Christianity  by  the  United  Brethren^  9 

Section  V.  Tartary,        .          .         -          .         -  ib. 

VI.  Persia, 18 

VII.   Egypt, 24 

VIII.  Labrador, 46 

IX.  Nicobar  Islands,     -         -         -         -  62 

X.  Cape  of  Good  Hope,      -         -         -  81 

XI.  General  Observations,    -         -         -  107 

CHAPTER  SEVENTH. 

Propagation  of  Christianity  by  the  Methodists,          -  117 
West  Indies. 

Section  I.  Antigua,         -         -         -         -         -  ib. 

II.  Dominica, 120 

III.  St.  Vincent's,          -          -         -         -  121 

IV.  St.  Christopher's,    -         -         -          -  124 
V.  St.  Eustatius,          ....  125 

VI.  Nevis, 127 

VII.  Tortola  and  the  Virgin  Islands,          -  129 


iv  Contents. 

Page. 

VIII.  Jamaica, 131 

IX.  General  Observations,      .         _         .     139 

CHAPTER  EIGHTH. 

Propagation  of  Christianity  by  the  Baptist  Missionary 

Society,     .......     145 

East  Indies,  -.--...       ib. 

CHAPTER  NINTH. 

Propagation  of  Christianity  by  the  London  Missionary 

Society,     .......  256 

Section  I.  South  Sea  Islands,            -         -         -  ib. 

Article  I.  Otaheite,     .         -         .         t         -  262 

II.  Tongataboo,        ....  323 

III.  St.  Christina,       -         ...  350 

Section  II.  South  Africa,           -         ^         -         -  354 

Article  I.  Bethelsdorp,        -       *  -         -         -  357 

II.  Zak  River,           -         .         -         -  392 

III.  Orange  River,     ....  422 

IV.  Namaqua  Land,            -         -         -  426 
Section  III.  East  Indies, 430 

Article  I.  Vizagapatnam,    -  -  -  -  ib.' 

JI.  Travancore,      ^;  -'  -  -  -  435 

Section  IV.  China,  -         -          -  -  -  -  439 

V.  Demerara,      -         -  -  -  .  442 

CHAPTER  TENTH. 

Propagation  of  Christianity  by  the  Edinburgh  Mission- 
ary Society,        ......  448 

Section  I.  Susoo  Country,       ....  ib. 

II.  Tartary,          -         .         -         -         .  457 

CHAPTER  ELEVENTH. 

Propagation  of  Christianity  by  the  Church  Missionary 

Society,      -         •         -         .         .  .         -471 

Susoo  Countrv,      ------      ib. 


Contents. 


APPENDIX. 

No.  I.  Page. 

A  Brief  Account  of  Missions  of  Inferior  A^ote^  479 

The  Anglo  Americans^           ...  ib. 
The  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian 

Knowledge,       .             -             «             .  ib. 
The  Corporation  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel 

in  New- England,            -             .             -  485 

The  Rev.  Samson  Occom,             -             -  489 

The  Rev.  Samuel  Davies,               -             -  495 

The  New- York  Missionary  Society,            -  498 
The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 

in  the  United  States,      -             .             -  505 

The  Western  IVJissionary  Society,               -  506 

The  Danes^      -              ...              -  509 

Lapland,                >             .              ,•             _  ib. 

The  United  Brethren^  -             -             -             -  511 

Lapland,  -----  ib. 

Guinea,    -             -             -             -             -  513 

South  Carolina,     -             -             -             -  ib. 

Algiers     -             -             -              -             -  514 

Ceylon,     -----  ib. 

The  London  Missionary  Society,             -             -  515 

Ceylon,    -----  ib. 

Belhary,    -             -             -             -             -  517 

No.  II. 

Account  of  the  Exertions  of  some  persons  distinguished 
by  their  zeal  for  the  Propagation  of  Christianity . 

a7Jiong  the  Heathen,   ------  522 

The  Honourable  Mr.  Boyle,    -         -         -         -  ib. 

Dr.  Berkeley,  late  Bishop  of  Cloync,         -         -  523 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Wheclock,        .         -         -         .  526 

Dr.  Porteus,  late  Bishop  of  London,         -         •  532 


vi  Contents* 

No.  III.  Page. 

List  of  Translations  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  for  the  use 

of  Fagan  and  Mahommedan  Nations^    -         -         -  535 

Afghan,          -------  ib. 

American  Indian,  -..----  536 

Arabic, f37 

Arawack,       -------  541 

Assam,           -          -         -         -         -         -         -  ib. 

Biiloch,          -------  ib. 

Bengalee,       -------  ib. 

Bilochee, 542 

Brazilian,      -------  ib. 

Bugis,            -         -         -         .         -          -         -  ib. 

Burman,        -------  ib. 

Calmiick,      -------  ib. 

Cashmire       -------  543 

Chinese,        -------  ib. 

Cingalese, -544 

Creole,          -------  545 

Esquimaux,  -------  ib.' 

Formosan,     -------  ib. 

Greenland,    -------  ib. 

Guzerattee,  -     '    -         -         -         -         -         -  346 

Hindostanee,          ------  ib. 

Kurnata,        -------  547 

Lapponese,    -------  ib. 

Macassar,      -------  ib. 

Mahratta,       -------  ib. 

Malay,           -          ------  548 

Maldivian,     ----.--  549 

Mexican,       -         - ib. 

Mixtecan,     -------  550 

Nepalese,       -         -         -         -         .         -         -  ib. 

Orissa,           -..,.----  ib. 

Persic,  -         -         -         .         *         -         -         -  ib. 


Contents.  vii 

Page, 

Portuguese,  -         - 553 

Sarameca, 554 

Shikh, ib. 

Sungskrit,     -------  ib. 

Tamul,          -------  ib, 

Telinga,        -         -         -         -         -          -          -  ::55 

Turkish, -  ib. 

The  Introduction  of  the  Gospel  into  the  British  Isles.,  557 


OF  THE 

PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

AMONG  THE 

HEATHEN. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

i'llOPAGATIO"  OF   CHRISTIANITY  BY  THE  UNITED   BRETHREN. 


SECTION  V. 

Tartary.* 

IN  1735,  David  Nitschman,  junior,  was  sent  to  St.  Pe- 
tersburg,  the  metropolis  of  Russia,  with  the  view  of  proceed- 
ing on  a  mission  to  the  Calmuc  Tartars,  and  to  the  descend- 
ants of  the  Bohemian  Brethren,  who,  it  was  reported,  still 
resided  in  the  mountains  of  Caucasus.  In  this  attempt,  how- 
ever, he  failed;  but  yet  he  obtained  some  important  infor- 

*  Tartary  was  formerly  a  general  name  for  all  that  country  bounded 
on  the  south  and  southwest  by  Persia  Tibet  and  China,  and  extendinp; 
to  the  Northern  Ocean;  and  from  the  Black  Sea,  and  the  bounds  of 
European  Russia  to  the  Eastern  Ocean.  Ii  is  now  divided  into  Chi- 
nese or  Eastern  Tartary  and  Independent  or  Western  Tartary.  The 
only  division,  generally  arises  from  the  different  tribes  by  which  it 
is  inhabited;  of  these  the  principal  are  the  Manchews  in  the  east,  the 
Moguls  in  the  middle,  and  the  Calmucs  in  the  west.  The  country  of 
the  Manciuiw  Tartars,  who  are  more  immediately  under  the  authority 
of  China,  has  been  divided  by  the  Chinese  into  three  great  govern- 
ments, Chinyang,  Korin,  and  Tsitchicar  ;  which  take  their  names  from 
those  of  their  chief  towns.     To  these  may  be  added  the  province  pr 

vox,.  II.  Ii 


10  J^ropagation  of  Christianity 

mation  by  means  of  the  visit,  and  formed  a  friendly  acquaint- 
ance with  a  clergyman  in  that  city,  who  was  of  great  ser- 
vice to  three  missionaries  destined  for  Lapland,  who,  in  17  .8, 
were  thrown  into  prison  by  the  Russian  government.* 

In  1742,  Conrade  Lange  set  off  on  a  journey  to  China, 
together  with  two  others  of  the  Brethren,  Zechariah  Hirs- 
chelj  and  Michael  Kund,  who  were  intended  as  missionaries 

*  Crantz's  History  of  the  United  Bretlircu. 

peninsula  of  Corea,  which  has  been  for  several  centuries  under  the  do- 
minion of  the  Chinese. 

"  The  Mogul  Tartars  are  naturally  easy  and  cheerful,  and  scarcely 
ever  experience  either  care  or  melancholy.  They  are  very  hospitable 
.  to  each  other,  and  likewise  to  strangers  who  put  themselves  under  their 
protection.  The  various  tribes  of  these  Tartars  form  wandering  hordes 
and  live  in  tents,  which  they  remove,  according  as  the  temperature  of 
the  seasons,  or  the  wants  of  their  flocks  require.  They  live  in  their 
tents  amid  the  dirt  and  dung  of  their  flocks.  They  are  naturally  ene- 
mies of  labour,  and  will  not  take  the  trouble  of  cultivating  the  earth,  it 
would  seem,  from  a  spirit  of  pride  ;  for  when  the  Missionaries  asked 
them  why  they  did  not  cultivate  at  least  some  gardens,  they  answered 
that  '  the  grass  was  for  beasts  and  beasts  for  man.^  One  of  their  great- 
est pleasures  is  to  get  themselves  intoxicated  on  a  kind  of  spirituons  li- 
quor they  distil  from  sour  milk.  Many  of  the  Tartar  tribes  profess 
the  religion  of  the  Tibctians,  which  seems  to  be  the  schismatical  ofl- 
spring  of  that  of  the  Hindoos,  originating  from  one  of  that  faith  a  disci- 
ple of  Boodh,  who  first  broached  the  doctrine  which  now  prevails  over 
all  Tartary.  Though  it  differs  tVom  the  Hindoo  in  many  of  its  outward 
forms,  yet  it  is  very  similar  to  the  religion  of  Brahma. 

"  The  Tartars  make  their  pilgrimages  frequently  and  in  great  num- 
bers, from  the  distance  sometimes  of  a  thousand  miles  to  Putola,  and 
TeeshooLoomboo,  to  worship  the  Lama.  Another  Religion,  prevailing 
among  them;  is  that  of  Schamanism.  This  sect  believe  in  one  Supreme 
God,  the  creator  of  all  things,  but  disbelieve  his  particular  providence, 
and  knowledge  of  hiuuan  actions.  They  believe  that  the  Supreme 
Beiijg  has  delegated  the  administration  of  the  World  to  a  number  of 
inferior  Deities.  Among  the  Schamanes,  women  are  supposed  to  be 
vastly  inferior  to  men,  in  consequence  of  which  they  are  treated  with 
severity  and  contempt. 

"  Tlic  various  tribes  of  Tartars  from  the  Wolga  to  Korea,  on  the 
Sea  of  Japan,  cncrease  in  their  superstitious  worship  of  their  sovereign 
Pontitf,  the  Grand  Lama,  in  proportion  to  their  distance  from  him. 
They  believe  him  to  be  immortal,  and  absolutely  regard  him  as  the 
Deity  himself,  possessing  all  knowledge  and  virtue. 

"  Every  year  they  come  up  from  diflcrent  parts,  to  worship  at  his 
shrine;  the  Chinese  Emperor,  who  is  a  Manchew  Tartar,  though  the  Lama 
is  tributary  to  him,  yet  he  acknowledges  him  in  his  religious  capacity, 
and  actually  maintains  his  vicegerent  sent  from  Tibet  in  the  palace  of 
Peking.     The  opinion  of  the  most  orthodox  is,  that  w.hen  the  Grand 


by  the  United  Brethren.  11 

to  the  Calmuc  Tartars.  Havinjj,  however,  applied  for  a 
passport  on  their  arrival  at  Petersburg,  they  experienced  the 
same  treatment  as  dieir  brethren  destined  to  Lapland,  being 
apprehended  as  suspicious  persons,  and  thrown  into  prison. 
In  this  manner  the}^  were  detained,  either  more  or  less  at 
liberty,  till  1747,  when  they  were  dismissed,  and  returned 
to  Germany,* 

Still,  however  the  Brethren  M'ere  not  discouraged;  and 
happily  more  propitious  times  at  length  arrived.  The  em- 
press of  Russia  having  lately  passed  an  edict,  granting  the 
members  of  their  churcli  full  permission  to  settle  in  her 
dominions,  and  promising  them  complete  liberty  of  con- 
science, several  of  the  Brethren  were  sent,  in  17'65,  to  estab- 
lish a  colony  in  the  kingdom  of  Astrachan,  with  a  particular 
view  to  the  introduction  of  Christianity  among  the  neigh- 
bouring  Tartar  tribes.  Having  arrived  at  St.  Petersburg, 
they  proceeded  on  their  journey  in  company  with  an  im- 
perial Aulic  counsellor,  by  the  way  of  Moscow:  and  after 
travelling  nearly  two  thousand  miles,  they  arrived  at  a  place 
about  twenty-four  miles  below  Czarizin,  where  tl"key  resolved 
to  fix  their  residence.  Here  they  began,  with  the  assistance 
of  the  Russian  carpenters,  to  erect  the  buildings  necessary 
for  their  accommodation,  to  cultivate  the  ground,  and  to 
work  at  their  respective  trades,  with  a  \iew  to  the  support 
of  the  colony. f 

•  Ci-anti's  History  of  the  United  Bretliren.  \  Iljid. 

Lama  seems  to  die  either  of  old  age  or  infirmity,  his  sotil  enters  into 
a  yotmger  and  more  sound  body,  and  is  recognized  only  by  the  inferior 
Lamas.  It  was  in  the  year  1774,  that  tlie  Grand  Lama  was  an  infant, 
which  had  been  discovered  but  a  little  before  by  tlie  Teeshoo  Lama, 
who  was  next  to  him  in  authority;  and  in  the  year  1783,  IVIr.  Turner,  the 
Embassador  to  Tibet,  informs  that  Teeshoo  Lama,  was  also  an  infant. 

"  The  bodies  of  the  Sovereign  Lamas  are  at  their  decease  deposited 
in  shrines,  which  are  considered  sacred  and  are  approached  with  de- 
votional exercises:  Whereas  the  dead  bodies  of  the  common  people 
are  thrown  within  walled  areas,  wdiich  arc  left  open  at  the  top,  and 
have  passages  at  the  bottom  to  admit  carniverous  birds,  and  beasts. 
No  attention  is  paid  to  their  Ijodies,  but  to  get  them  to  the  most  suita 
ble  place  where  they  may  be  torii  to  pieces  by  the  devouring  animals. 


12  Propagation  of  Christianity 

As  this  place,  which  they  called  Sarepta,  was  on  tlie  high 
road  from  St.  Petersburg,  by  way  of  Astrachan,  to  Persia 
and  the  East  Indies,  the  Brethren  received  frequent  visits 
from  travellers  and  other  strangers  who  happened  to  pass  in 
that  direction.  Among  others,  there  was  a  merchant  from 
Georgia,  who,  in  conversing  with  them  concerning  the 
several  tribes  which  inhabit  the  mountains  of  Caucasus, 
mentioned,  among  the  rest,  the  Tschecks,  who,  according 
to  their  own  account,  were  some  hundred  years  ago  driven 
thither  from  Europe,  and  who  still  retained  their  own  lan- 
guage, preserved  their  peculiar  customs,  and  professed  the 
Christian  religion;  but  being  no  longer  able  to  read  the 
books  of  their  foremthers,  which  were  deposited  in  large 
strong  built  churches,  which  now  stood  empty,  they  looked 
forward  to  a  period  when  the  use  of  them  and  their  public 
worship  would  be  restored.  As  the  Bohemians  call  them- 
selves Tschecks,  the  Brethren  naturally  conjectured  that 
these  were  probably  the  descendants  of  their  countrymen, 
who,  about  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  were  banished 
from  Moravia  on  account  of  their  religion,  and  were  said  to 
have  gone  to  Moldavia,  and  from  thence  to  the  mountains 
of  Caucasus.* 

Impressed  with  this  idea,  the  Brethren  were  anxious  to 
obtain  some  further  information  respecting  these  unfortunate 
people.  With  this  view,  two  of  them  went  to  Astrachan  in 
1 .68,  and  procured  from  the  governor  letters  of  recom- 
mendation to  the  Russian  commanders,  with  orders  to  give 
them  some  Cossacks  as  a  guard,  and  a  Tartar  for  their  inter- 
preter  in  their  journey.  On  arriving,  however,  at  Mostok, 
the  frontier  fortress,  where  they  were  only  fotir  days  journey 
from  the  country  which  the  Tschecks  were  said  to  inhabit, 
they  were  advised  by  the  commandant  of  that  place,  not  to 
proceed  further,  as  the  Kabardian  Tartars  were  approaching 
with  forty  thousand  men,  who  would  in  all  probability  take 
them  prisoners  and  carry  them  into  slavery.     Painful  as  this 

*  Ci-anlz's  History  of  the  United  Brethren. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  13 

intelligence  was,  the  Brethren  had  no  alternative  but  to  re- 
linquish the  enterprise  for  the  present.  They  therefore, 
returned  to  Astrachan,  determined  to  embrace  the  earliest 
opportunity  of  renewing  the  search;  and,  in  the  meanwhile, 
they  employed  themselves  in  learning  the  Tartar  lan- 
guage.* 

It  was  not  long  before  tlie  Brethren  commenced  an  ac- 
quaintance with  the  Calmuc  Tartars,  who  inhabit  a  vast 
tract  of  country  on  both  sides  of  the  Wolga.  Soon  after 
their  arrival,  a  horde  of  these  barbarians  came  and  encamped 
on  their  land;  and  though  this  was  at  first  a  source  of  no 
small  trouble  to  them,  3'^et  the  colonists,  by  their  kind  and 
affable  behaviour,  quickly  gained  the  confidence  and  friend- 
ship of  their  visitors.  The  building  of  Sarepta  was  a  source 
of  much  amusement  to  the  Tartars.  They  came  thither  in 
great  numbers  viewed  all  the  various  operations,  attended 
the  meetings  of  the  Brethren,  and  even  seemed  pleased 
with  them.  They  were  particulai'ly  happy  when  a  physi- 
cian arrived  ?n  the  settlement.  Many  of  them  became  his 
patients,  among  whom  was  one  of  their  princes,  who,  with 
his  train,  pitched  his  winter  quarters  in  the  neighbourhood. 
By  means  of  the  Brethren's  affectionate  treatment  of  him, 
and  the  assiduous  attention  of  the  ph}'sician,  he  came  to 
place  the  utmost  confidence  in  them.  He  formed  a  par- 
ticular attachment  to  two  of  them,  who  often  visited  him 
with  the  view  of  learning  the  language;  and,  on  his  depar- 
ture, he  oft'ered,  if  they  would  go  with  him  into  the  Great 
Steppe,  (an  immense  plain  covered  with  long  grass,)  to  take 
them  under  his  protection,  and  to  furnisli  them  with  the 
means  of  acquiring  the  language.  This  offer  the  Brethren 
accepted  with  joy;  and  during  the  two  following  years,  they 
2'esided  among  the  Tartars,  conforming  to  their  manner  of 
life,  and  accompanying  them  in  their  migrations  from  place 
to  place  with  tlieir  tents  and  cattle.  They  neglected  no 
opportunity   of  making  known   the  gospel  to   them;    bul 

*  Crantz's  lilstorv  of  the  United  Brethren 


14  Propagation  of  Christianity 

though  they  themsehTs  were  treated  with  civihty  and  friend- 
ship, their  message  was  not  received  by  the  poor  barbarians. 
The  great  Derbet  horde  at  length  retired  from  that  part  of 
the  country  in  1774,  and  only  a  few  straggling  families  re- 
mained in  the  neighbourhood  of  Sarepta.* 

Besides  embracing  every  opportunity  of  cultivating  a 
friendly  correspondence  with  the  Tartars,  several  of  the 
Brethren  continued  to  apply  with  unremitting  diligence  to 
the  study  of  the  language,  in  the  hope  of  at  length  finding 
an  opportunity  of  preaching  the  gospel  among  them.  With 
this  view  they  procured  some  of  their  books,  (for  it  seems 
the  Calmucs  are  not  altogether  ignorant  of  the  use  of  letters), 
but  among  these  there  was  neither  grammar  nor  dictionar}-, 
nor  any  other  work  of  an  elementary  nature.  The  assistance 
they  derived  from  them  was  therefore  comparatively  small; 
and  they  soon  perceived  that  without  a  master  it  would  be 
impossible  to  make  much  progress.  Happily,  however, 
they  at  length  found  a  Calmuc  teacher  willing  to  attend  them 
several  hours  a  day;  and  under  him,  two  of  the  Brethren 
made  considerable  proiiclency  in  the  study  of  this  barbarous 
dialect,  t 

In  1781,  Grabsch  and  Gruhl,  two  of  the  Brethren,  re- 
newed the  attempt  to  visit  the  Tschecks  on  the  mountains 
of  Caucasus.  After  passing  through  several  Tartar  towns, 
they  arrived  at  Beregee,  the  place  where  professor  Gmelin 
v/as  imprisoned  and  died.  Here,  had  it  not  been  for  their 
guide,  they  would  not  have  been  admitted  into  any  house, 
all  the  inhabitants  of  the  place  being  zealous  bigotted  Ma- 
hommedans,  and  invetrate  in  their  hatred  of  heretics;  but 
at  length  one  of  them,  to  oblige  their  conductor,  agreed  to 
give  them  lodgings.  Usmei  Khan,  the  prince  of  the  country, 
happening  to  be  in  the  town  at  this  very  time,  could  scarcely 
be  persuaded  that  the  account  which  Grabsch  gave  of  him- 
self was  true,  but  suspected  that  he  was  either  a  physician, 

•  Cianti's  History  of  the  United  Brelliren.     Period.  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  191. 
T  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  192,  193. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  15 

a  rich,  or  a  learned  man.  One  of  the  Tartar  princes  even 
told  the  missionary  very  gravely,  that  he  had  heard  that  if  a 
man's  body  was  ripped  up,  he  could  heal  him  in  a  very 
short  time.  Usmei  Khan  being  at  length  satisfied  with  re- 
gard to  their  design,  took  them  in  his  retinue  to  the  place 
of  his  residence,  and  then  sent  them  forward,  under  the 
care  of  a  guide,  to  Kubascha,  the  principal  seat  of  the 
Tschecks.* 

Here  they  arrived  the  same  day;  but  their  disappointment 
may  be  more  easily  conceived  than  described,  when,  on 
entering  the  town,  they  heard  the  cry  of  the  Mollahs  on  the 
turrets  of  the  mosques,  summoning  the  people  to  prayers, 
an  indubitable  proof  that  the  inhabitants  were  Mahomme- 
dans.  Grabsch,  however,^  proceeded  to  make  enquiry  con- 
cerning their  origin,  their  religion,  their  language,  and  their 
books;  he  visited  every  house  in  the  town,  and  left  no 
means  untried,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  any  memorials 
of  Christianity  might  yet  remain  among  them.  He  dis- 
covered the  ruins  of  three  churches,  and  an  inscription  over 
the  door  of  one  of  them,  cut  in  stone,  which  neither  he  nor 
the  inhabitants  were  able  fully  to  decyphcr;  only  in  the  mid- 
dle of  it,  the  number  1215,  in  the  usual  Arabic  figures,  was 
still  legible.  Not  far  from  this  ruin  stood  a  noble  stately 
church,  built  of  hewn  stone,  and  decorated  with  a  profusion 
of  architectural  ornaments,  but  now  converted  into  dwelling- 
houses,  and  divided  into  five  stories.  On  the  top  of  this 
building,  several  inscriptions  in  stone  were  pointed  out  to 
him,  but  he  could  not  discover  in  them  the  smallest  resem- 
blance to  any  letters  with  which  he  was  acquainted.  It  fur- 
ther appeared,  that  the  inhabitants  had  no  longer  any  books 
written  in  the  characters  used  by  their  ancestors:  They  now 
employed  the  Arabic  alphabet  in  writing  their  own  language 
as  well  as  the  Turkish  and  Tartar.  Their  forefathers,  they 
acknowledged,  were  originally  Christians;  but  upwards  of 
ilirec  hundred  years  ago  they  embraced  the  religion  of  Ma- 

*  Period.  AcfonTits,  vol.  iii.  p.  56,j. 


.16  Propagation  of  Cliristianity 

hommed;  and  now,  they  thanked  God,  that  he  had  directed 
them  in  the  right  path  to  heaven.  Some  oF  them,  however, 
expressed  great  regard  for  the  missionary,  and  Mahmud, 
his  host,  assured  him,  that  whenever  he  came  to  Kubasv.ha, 
he  would  consider  him,  as  his  brother:  "  What,"  said 
Grabsch,  "though  I  do  not  turn  Mussulman?" — "  O,  all 
that  goes  for  nothing,"  replied  Mahmud.* 

In  returning  home,  the  Brethren  were  informed  of  a 
village  three  days  journey  from  Shirvan,  where  there  was  a 
congregation  of  Christians,  who  were  said  to  be  the  descen- 
dants of  foreigners;  and  though  the  prince  of  the  place  had 
endeavoured,  both  by  threatenings  and  persecution,  to  com- 
pel them  to  embrace  the  Mahommedan  faith,  yet  had  they 
with  the  utmost  steadfastness,  maintained  the  profession  of 
their  own  religion.  Anxious  as  the  Brethern  were  to  visit 
these  people,  it  was  not  in  their  power  at  present.  They 
saw,  however,  a  man  from  that  village,  who  informed  them 
that  they  came  originally  from  Georgia,  and  were  members 
partly  of  the  Georgian,  partl}^  of  the  Armenian  church. f 

Since  that  period,  the  Brethren  have  made  various  at- 
tempts to  introduce  the  gospel  among  the  Calmuc  Tartars; 
but  hitherto  with  little  appearance  of  success.  They  are  a 
people  who  live  contented  with  their  priests  and  their  reli- 
gion; are  remarkably  easy,  mild  and  cheerful  in  their  dispo- 
sitions, generally  much  more  so  indeed  than  the  nominal 
Christians  in  their  neighbourhood.  They  are  proud  of 
their  religious  creed,  and  frequently  say,  that  though  every 
nation  has  a  right  to  follow  their  own  way  of  obtaining  the 
Chief  Good;  yet  theirs  must  needs  be  the  best,  since  it 
shews  a  man  how  he  may  become  a  god.  When  they  wish 
to  flatter  the  Brethren,  they  remark,  that  their  method  of 
obtaining  happiness  is  not  unlike  that  of  the  Calmucs;  and 
they  never  fail,  on  these  occasions,  to  quote  their  Burchans 
or  deceased  saints,  whom  they  allege  to  have  performed 
works  very  similar  to  the  miracles  of  our  Saviour.     The 

•  Period.  Acco\iuts,  vol.  ili.  p.  365,  oC6.        f  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  363. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  17 

doctrine  of  transmigration  is  one  of  the  articles  of  their  creed; 
and  with  regard  to  future  punishment,  their  only  dread  is 
lest  their  souls  should  pass  into  the  body  of  some  of  the 
inferior  animals,  or  perhaps  be  sent  to  hell  for  a  season. 
They  say  that  they  desire  no  other  happiness  hereafter,  but 
such  as  may  be  enjoyed  on  earth,  as  riches,  cattle,  furniture, 
&.C.  If  a  missionary  grow  warm  in  speaking  to  them  on  the 
subject  of  religion,  they  laugh  at  him,  for  what  they  call 
his  weakness;  for  according  to  them,  one  of  the  greatest 
virtues  a  man  can  possess,  is  to  remain  cool  and  composed 
on  every  occasion,  and  under  all  circumstances;  and  hence 
they  uniformly  endeavour  to  throw  their  opponent  off  his 
guard,  by  sneering  and  provoking  expressions.* 

Finding  that  so  little  could  be  effected  among  the  older 
Calmucs,  the  Brethren  have  of  late  turned  their  attention  to 
the  education  of  the   children. f     In   1804,   the  Kirgiseaii 
Tartars  were  reduced  to  such  distress  for  want  of  the  neces- 
saries of  life,  that  they  offered  to  sell  their  children;  and  on 
this  occasion  the  court  of  St.  Petersburgh  proposed  to  pur- 
chase a  number  of  them,  and  to  send  them  to  Sarepta  to  be 
trained  up  in  the  principles  of  Christianity,  and  the  arts  of 
civilized  life.     To  this  proposal  the  Brethren  readily  assent- 
ed,  offering  to  take  forty  or  fifty  of  these  children;^   but 
this  measure,  for  what  reason  does  not  appear,   was  never 
carried  into  effect.     In  1808,  however,  the  Brethren  them- 
selves ransomed  four  girls  from  the  Kirgisean  Tartars;  and 
having  had  the  satisfaction  to  see  them  grow  up  In  the  fear 
of  the  Lord,   they  baptized  them  two  years  afterwards. — 
These,  and  a  poor  blind  Calmuc  girl  left  to  perish  on  the 
road,  about  thirty  years  before,  who  v/as  brought  into  the 
settlement,  and  trained  up  in  the  Christian  faith,  are  the  only 
individuals  of  the  Tartar  nation  whom  they  have  received 
into  the  church.     The  Brethren,  however,  have  been  visit- 
ed by  many  of  the  German  colonists,  who  have  settled  in 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  i.  p.  105;  vol.  il.  p.  115,  197. 
f  Ibid.  vol.  iv.  213.  t  lleligious  Monitor,  vol.  iv.  p.  270 

VOL.  ir.  C 


18  Fropagation  of  Christianity 

great  numbers  on  the  Wolga,  and  have  been  of  considerable 
use  to  them,  particularly  in  providing  most  of  them  with 
Christian  ministers.*  Of  late  they  have  also  begun  a  trans- 
lation of  the  New  Testament  into  the  Calmuc  language;  and 
by  the  last  accounts  they  had  finished  the  Gospel  according 
to  Matthew. t 


SECTION  VI. 

Persia.^ 

IN  the  spring  of  1747,  Christian  Frederick  William 
Hocker,  a  physician,  and  J.  RuefFer,  a  surgeon,  set  off  on  a 
mission  to  the  East,  with  the  view  of  visiting  the  Gebri,  or 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  193;  vol.  iii  p.  221;  vol.  v.  p.  14. 
t  Report  Brit,  and  For.  Bib.  Soc.  1813,  p.  33. 

\  The  Persians  are  chiefly  of  the  Mahommedan  Religion  of  the  sect 
of  Ali,  whona  the  Turks,  who  follow  the  succession  of  Omar  and  Abu 
Bekr  call  heretics.  Their  religion  is  considered  more  vain  and  sensual 
than  that  of  the  Turks,  and  in  many  things  resembles  the  superstitions 
of  the  Brahmins.  A  sect  called  the  Guel)res,  or  Gaurs  pretend  to  be 
the  disciples  of  Zoroaster,  the  father  of  the  Magi.  There  are  traces 
of  their  both  having  believed  in  the  pure  essence  of  the  Supreme  Being. 
There  is  a  place  a  small  distance  from  Baku,  a  city  in  the  northern 
part  of  Persia,  v/here  the  ground  is  of  a  combustible  nature,  on  which 
account  it  is  visited  by  the  Gaurs  with  religious  awe.  This  ground  is 
impregnated  with  inflammatory  substances,  and  contains,  it  is  said, 
several  small  temples;  in  which  the  Gaurs  pretend  to  preserve  the 
sacred  flame  of  the  universal  fire.  The  Mahommedans  are  the  declared 
enemies  of  the  Gaurs,  who  were  banished  out  of  Persia  by  Shah  Abbas. 

"  The  long  wars  between  the  Persians  and  Romans  seem  early  to 
have  driven  the  ancient  Christians  into  Persia  and  the  neighbouring 
countries.  Thence  it  is  that  we  find  some  notions  of  the  distinguishing 
traits  of  Christianity  in  their  Religion,  such  as  the  Trinity — certain 
moral  duties,  and  the  sacrificing  of  some  of  their  lusts  or  passions  to 
God." 

The  Christian  religion  even  flourished  in  Persia  until  the  Mahom- 
medans obtained  the  ascendancy  about  the  close  of  the  seventh  century. 
Hence  wc  find  the  Persian  Christians  A.  D.  325  represented  in  the 
council  of  Nice  by  their  Bishop. 

There  are  several  circumstances  that  would  facilitate,  particularly  at 
this  time,  a  christian  mission  into  Persia,  viz. 

First,  the  Christian  Religion,  in  form  at  least,  has  existed  there  foi 


by  the  United  Brethren.  1^ 

Gaures,f  who  resided  in  Persia,  and  were  supposed  by  some 
to  be  the  posterity  of  the  Magi,  or  Wise  men  who  came  to 
Bethlehem  at  the  birth  of  our  Saviour.*  Upon  their  ar- 
rival at  Aleppo,  they  were  strongly  dissuaded  by  various 
European  gentlemen,  to  whom  they  were  introduced  in  that 
city,  from  prosecuting  their  journey,  on  account  of  the 
anarchy  and  distress  in  which  Persia  was  then  plunged  by 
Nadir  Shah,  who,  among  his  other  cruelties,  had  caused 
numbers  of  the  Jews  and  Armenians  to  be  burnt  alive,  be- 
cause they  would  not  satisfy  his  rapacious  demands  for 
money.f  But  notwithstanding  these  alarming  representa- 
tions, the  Brethren  determined  to  persist  in  their  original 
design. 

Afterwards,  indeed,  when  they  heard  many  new  frightful 
reports  from  Persia,  particularly  how  the  usurper  had  plun- 

•  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  1.  p.  381.  \  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p,  384. 

\  The  Grcbi,  or  Gaures,  we  suppose  are  the  same  as  the  Persees,  or 
worshippers  of  fire. 

many  centuries,  and  rendered  many  of  its  maxims,  and  peculiarities 
familiar  to  the  natives. 

2ndly.  There  has  been  a  desire  expressed  by  several  of  their  sover- 
eigns, and  a  warm  desire  by  the  people  generally,  to  have  the  Bible 
translated  into  their  language,  Avhich,  with  the  Arabic,  are  the  most  po- 
lite, classical,  and  universally  cultivated  in  the  Asiatic  countries,  of  any 
of  the  oriental  languages. 

Srdly.  This  translation  was  going  on  at  Cawnpore,  in  Bengal,  three 
or  four  years  ago,  under  the  superintondance  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Mar- 
tyn,  by  the  immediate  attention  of  Saba(§  the  Arabian  convert  to  Chris- 
tianity, with  several  of  his  native  brethren;  and,  if  it  has  not  met  with 
any  casual  interruption,  must  be  nearly,  if  not  wholly  finished  by  this 
time. 

4thly.  The  Persians  are  not  very  zealous  for  any  particular  religious 
creed — are  very  careless  of  the  Maho.nmedan  Faith,  and  by  the  Turks 
generally  considered  in  the  light  of  heretics; — and 

5thly.  They  are  a  very  hospitable  people,  and  it  is  a  saying  among 
them,  that  "  every  meal  a  stranger  partakes  with  them  brings  a  blessing 
upon  their  house."  Indeed,  their  affability  and  politeness  to  European 
travellers,  and  their  natural  fondness  of  the  manners  and  customs  of 
christianized  countries,  clearly  evince  that  in  Persia,  there  is  now  a 
large  field  for  missionary  labours, ''  white,  already  to  harvest." 

4  Sabat  was  converted  from  Ibe  Maliommedan  to  tbe  Obristian  Faith,  by  seeing' 
his  intimate  friend  Abdallali  sutti>r  martyrdom  for  his  firm  attachment  to  the  truths 
of  the  gospel. — See  Ur.  Buchanun'-;  Sermon  entitled  the  Star  in  the  Eust. 


20  Propagation  of  Christianity 

dered  Ispahan,  the  capital  of  the  empire,  and  Kerman,  the 
principal  seat  of  the  Gaures;  that  in  the  latter  place  he  wa^ 
so  inhuman  as  to  erect  three  pyramids  of  men's  heads;  and 
that,  in  consequence  of  his  unparalleled  cruelties,  the  whole 
country  was  in  a  state  of  rebellion,  Hockcr  was  inclined  to 
go  to  Bassora,  and  there  wait  a  more  convenient  season  for 
executing  their  design:  But  Rueffer  rather  proposed  going 
to  Bagdad,  to  which  the  other  consented,  on  condition,  that 
should  they  find  no  opportunity  of  travelling  from  thence  to 
Persia,  they  would  then  proceed  to  Bassora.* 

Having  provided  themselves  with  two  camels,  and  a  va- 
riety of  other  necessary  articles  as  pots,  dishes,  clothes,  cof- 
fee, biscuit,  &c.  they  left  Aleppo,  about  the  end  of  August, 
with  the  caravan  destined  for  the  East,  consisting  of  no 
fewer  than  fifteen  hundred  camels.  In  passing  through  the 
desart,  they  usually  set  off  about  sun-rise,  and  travelled  till 
noon,  when  they  stopped  for  an  hour,  and  prepared  some 
coiFee  for  dinner.  They  afterwards  pursued  their  journey 
till  sun-set,  when  they  again  halted,  and  rested  till  a  little 
after  midnight.  Their  supper  consisted  of  hard  boiled  rice, 
with  melted  butter;  and  though  it  was  an  unsavoury  dish, 
yet  hunger  rendered  it  palatable,  and  even  delicious.  Their 
drink  was  muddy  stinking  water,  which  they  were  obliged 
to  strain  through  a  cloth  before  it  was  fit  for  use.  After 
travelling  about  a  fortnight  in  this  manner,  they  arrived  at 
Cowis,  a  place  where  the  caravan  usually  divided  into  two, 
one  part  going  to  Bagdad,  the  other  to  Bassora;  but,  to  their 
great  disappointment,  the  whole,  in  this  instance,  proceeded 
to  Bassora.  They,  therefore,  went  forward  to  Bagdad,  in 
company  with  four  Jews  who  were  travelling  thither;  and, 
on  their  arrival  in  that  city,  they  learned  that  a  caravan  was 
about  to  set  off  for  Persia. f  They  accordingly  joined  it 
without  delay,  and  proceeded  a  considerable  way  on  their 
journey  without  molestation;  but,  on  the  twenty-third  of 
October,  they  were  attacked  by  the  Curdes,  a  band  of  thieves 

*  Period,  Accounts,  vol.  i.  p.  CSS.  I  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p,  387. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  21 

who  infest  that  part  of  the  country  to  the  great  annoyance 
of  travellers.     They  had  set  out  as  usual  before  sun-rise; 
and  this  day  their  way  was  first  over  a  large  hill,  and  then 
through  a  valley  along  the  foot  of  the  hills.     The  armed 
men,   who  were  between  fifty  and  sixty  in   number,   had 
stopped  commodiously  in  the  valley,  to  wait  till  the  whole 
caravan  had  passed  over  the  hill.      Our  travellers,  however, 
had  scarcely  passed  it,  when  they  heard  a  most  hideous  cry 
behind  them  on  another  hill,   and  on   looking  about,   they 
perceived  a  numerous  band  of  Curdes  running  straight  to- 
ward them.     A  few  of  them  were  mounted,   armed   with 
sabres  and  javelins;   but  most  of  them  were  on   foot,  and 
had  chiefly  javelins  and  clubs,  so  that  if  the  people  belong- 
ing to  the  caravan  had  possessed  courage  and  a  good  leader, 
they  might  easily  have   repelled   them,   for  there  were  only 
about  two  hundred  of  this  undisciplined  band.     But  as  they 
retreated  in  full  galldp  over  the  hill,   after  firing  only  a  few- 
shots,  those  who  had  only  asses  or  mules  were  left  an  easy 
prey  to  the  robbers.     Before   Hocker  was  aware,   he  was 
pierced  in  the  back  with  a  javelin,  and  while  he  turned  and 
looked  about,  he  received  another  stab  in  his  right  side;  but 
providentially  they  were  in  such  a  direction,  that  they  botli 
struck  against  his  ribs,  and  thus  were  prevented  from  doing 
him  any  material  injury.     The  latter,  liowever,   came  with 
such  violence,  that  he  fell  down  the  hill,  upon  wliich  one  of 
the  robbers  followed  him,  and  before  he  had  time  to  rise, 
aimed  a  stroke  at  his  face,   but  though  he  received  a  pretty 
severe  wound  in  the  chin,  he  did  not  lose  it,  as  some  of  the 
caravan  did  their  ears,  while  others  had  their  skulls  fractured. 
Hocker,  when  he  arose,  suffered  the  robber  and  his  compan- 
ions to  take  all  his  money  and  clothes  to  his  very  shirt  and 
breeches,  which  they  did  not  offer  to  seize.    As  soon  as  the 
ruffians  left  him,  he  ran  forward  as  fast  as  he  could;  but  be- 
fore he  was  aware,  he  received  another  violent  stroke  on  the 
back  of  his  neck,  from  one  of  the  banditti  who  lay  in  wait  for 
him,  so  that  for  a  time  he  lost  all  recollection,  and  fell  almost 


22  Propagation  of  Christianity 

lifeless  to  the  ground.  The  robber,  however,  took  nothing 
from  him  but  the  watch  left  in  his  pockeit.  Hooker  then  fell 
into  the  hands  of  a  third,  who  stripped  him  of  his  stockings 
and  boots.  A  fourth  now  came  up  and  robbed  him  of  his 
breeches,  but  yet  he  had  the  civility  to  leave  him  two  pair  of 
old  drawers.  From  the  place  where  they  were  plundered, 
they  had  to  travel  about  fifteen  English  miles  to  the  nearest 
habitation,  and  towards  this  quarter  each  made  the  best  of  his 
way.  As  Hocker  was  barefooted,  his  body  was  in  a  short  time 
roasted  as  it  were  by  the  heat  of  the  sun,  and  his  feet  were 
extremely  sore  from  the  hardness  of  the  road;  but  yet  the 
hope  of  reaching  a  place  of  safety  supported  his  strength  and 
courage.  On  his  arrival  he  found  many  of  his  fellow  trav- 
ellers naked  like  himself,  and  spent  with  fatigue,  hunger,  and 
thirst.  His  first  concern  was  to  find  his  brother  Rueffer, 
who  was  no  less  anxiously  seeking  for  him,  and  if  the  Per- 
sians had  not  hindred  him,  would  certainly  have  returned  to 
the  place  where  they  were  robbed.  Hocker  at  last  discov- 
ered him  coming  towards  him,  but  for  some  time  did  not 
know  him,  stripped  as  he  was  of  all  his  clothes.  He  was 
not,  however,  wounded;  for  as  soon  as  he  saw  the  robbers 
running  up  to  him,  brandishing  their  clubs,  he  made  signs 
to  them  to  take  all  he  had,  begging  only  for  his  instrument 
for  bleeding.  Thus  one  after  another  stripped  him  till  he 
was  left  perfectly  naked.  One  of  the  Persians  furnished  him 
with  a  piece  of  cloth  to  bind  round  his  waist;  and  Hocker, 
soon  as  he  saw  him,  gave  him  a  pair  of  his  drawers.  Ahach 
Aly  Beg,  who  took  them  with  him,  and  another  Persian 
called  Hassen  Aly  Beg,  were  so  kind  as  to  furnish  him 
with  an  old  waistcoat  and  sandals,  and  brought  them  to  a 
house,  where,  as  it  was  cold,  they  were  glad  to  find  a  warm 
chamber,  and  some  bread  and  grapes  for  their  supper.  Ruef- 
fer's  body,  however,  was  so  full  of  sores  and  blisters,  occa- 
sioned by  the  burning  heat  of  the  sun,  that  for  many  nights 
he  could  not  shut  his  eyes  for  the  pain.  In  general,  the  Per- 
sians belonging  to  the  caravan  behaved  toward  them  with 


by  the  United  Brethren.  23 

great  kindness.  The  two  persons  already  mentioned  would 
have  purchased  as^es  for  them,  but  as  they  could  not  pay 
for  them,  they  chose  rather  to  walk.* 

On  the  following  day,  the  Brethren  set  forward  on  their 
journey;  but  scarcely  had  a  week  elapsed,  when  they  were 
again  attacked  by  another  gang  of  robbers,  who  rushed  upon 
them  with  drawn  sabres,  and  stripped  them  of  the  few  articles 
they  had  left.  Hocker  saved  only  a  pair  of  torn  drawers, 
RuefFer  an  old  waistcoat.  Their  sufferings  for  some  days 
were  so  great,  that  it  is  impossible  to  describe  them.  They 
had  nothing  for  food  but  bread  and  water;  and  Hocker  caught 
a  violent  flux  from  the  difference  of  temperature  between 
the  night  and  the  day.  It  was  considered  by  them  as  a  great 
mercy,  that  for  a  few  nights  they  were  permitted  to  sleep  in 
a  stable,  though  without  either  fire  or  covering.  Hocker,  at 
last,  obtained  some  kind  of  dress  for  himself,  but  as  it  con- 
sisted of  horse  hair  and  cotton,  it  tore  his  skin,  and  was  ex- 
tremely painful.  Happily,  they  at  length  arrived  at  Ispahan, 
and  were  received  with  a  friendly  manner  by  some  fathers 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  who  lived  in  that  neighbour- 
hood, and  particularly  by  Mr.  Pierson,  the  English  resident, 
who  took  them  into  his  house,  and  supplied  them  witli 
clothes,  and  such  other  articles  as  they  needed. f 

On  mentioning  to  this  gentleman  their  design  of  visiting 
the  Gaures,  he  dissuaded  them  in  the  strongest  manner  from 
making  the  attempt  at  that  time,  as  the  ^hole  country  was 
in  a  state  of  the  greatest  anarchy  and  distress.  He  told  them 
Nadir  Shah,  and  after  him  the  Affghans,  had  ransacked  and 
plundered  Kerman;  that  the  Gaures  in  that  quarter  were  a 
good,  honest,  industrious  kind  of  people,  but  that  most  of 
them  had  either  been  massacred  or  expelled  from  the  coun- 
try; and  that  the  roads  to  that  place  were  still  more  danger- 
ous, from  the  numerous  gangs  of  robbers  which  infested 
them,  than  even  those  they  had  lately  travelled.  These  repre- 
sentations of  the  English  resident  were  confirmed  from  ever}' 

*  Feriod.  Accounts,  vol.  i.  p.  SP?.  ";  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  39^. 


24  Propagation  of  Christianity 

quarter,  and  destroyed  all  the  Brethren's  hopes  of  being  soon 
able  to  visit  the  Gaures.  They  might,  indeed,  have  settled 
at  Ispahan  in  a  medical  capacity,  with  the  fairest  prospect  of 
success,  as  the  inhabitants  of  Persia  have  a  most  exalted  idea 
of  the  learning  and  skill  of  physicians  from  Europe;  but  as 
they  had  no  hope  of  being  useful  in  their  principal  character 
as  missionaries,  they  resolved  to  return  to  Grand  Cairo  in 
Egypt,  and  there  to  wait  the  advice  of  their  Brethren.* 

In  June  1784,  the  two  missionaries  left  Ispahan;  but  they 
had  not  proceeded  far  on  their  journey,  when  the  caravan 
was  surprised  and  robbed  by  another  gang  of  banditti.  They 
now  lost  tlie  third  time  every  farthing  they  possessed,  together 
with  most  of  their  clothes.  In  consequence  of  this,  they  came 
to  Bender  Buscher  in  rags  and  in  debt;  but  here  they  found  a 
friend  in  the  Dutch  agent,  who  took  them  under  his  care, 
kindly  paid  their  debts,  and  forwarded  them  on  their  journey 
to  Bassora.  From  thence  they  afterwards  proceeded  to 
Egypt;  but  while  they  were  in  that  country,  Rueffer  died  at 
Damietta,  and  was  interred  in  the  burying  ground  of  the 
Greeks.  Hocker,  being  thus  deprived  of  his  fellow  travel- 
ler, returned  to  Europe,  v/here  he  arrived  in  February  1750, 
after  an  absence  of  about  three  years. f  Thus  terminated 
the  plan  of  the  Brethren  for  introducing  the  gospel  among 
the  Gaures  in  Persia.  J: 


SECTION  VII. 

Egypt.  § 

THE  United  Brethren  resolved,  so  early  as  1789,  to  send 
one  of  their  members  into  Abyssinia,  with  the  view  of  form- 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  i.  p.  395.     \  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  399.    +  Ibid,  vol,  i.  p.  402,  404. 

§  "  The  descendants  of  the  orighial  Egyptians  are  an  ill  looking 
slovenly  people,  immersed  in  ignorance  and  distinguished  by  the  name 
of  Copts..    Their  ancestors  were  once  christians,  and,  in  general,  they 


by  the  United  Brethren.  25 

ing  a  correspondence  with  the  Christian  church  in  that  coun- 
try, and  in  the  hope  of  being  useful  in  promoting  its  best 
interests.  The  design,  however,  was  reHnquished  at  tliat 
time;  but  Dr.  Hocker,  having  taken  the  subject  into  serious 
consideration,  after  his  return  from  Persia,  offered  to  go  to 
Grand  Cairo,  and  there  to  wait  for  an  opportunity  of  enter, 
ing  Abyssinia.  His  plan  was  to  practice  as  a  physician  in 
that  city,  to  learn  the  Arabic  language,  to  establish  a  corres- 
pondence with  the  Patriarch  of  the  Copts,  by  wliom  the 
Abuna,  or  metropolitan  of  Abyssinia,  is  consecrated;  and 
through  him  to  form  an  acquaintance  with  the  Abuna  him- 

still  pretend  to  be  of  that  religion;  but  Mahomrne danism  is  the  prevail- 
ing religion  among  the  natives.  Those  who  live  at  any  considerable 
distance  from  the  Nile,  consist  of  Arabs,  of  a  deep,  swarthy  complexion; 
they  in  general  live  in  tents,  tend  their  flocks,  and  have  no  fixed  place 
of  abode.  The  Turks  who  reside  in  Egypt  retain  all  the  Ottoman  inso- 
lence and  pride,  and  the  Turkish  habit,  to  distinguish  themselves  from 
the  Arabs  and  Copts.  The  dress  of  the  women  is  tawdry  and  unbecom- 
ing. The  women  are  not  admitted  into  the  society  of  men,  even  at  the 
table.  When  the  rich  are  desirous  of  dining  with  one  of  their  wives, 
they  give  her  previous  notice,  when  she  accordingly  prepares  the  most 
delicate  dishes,  and  receives  her  lord  with  the  greatest  attention  and 
respect.  The  lower  class  of  wives  usually  remain  standing,  or  seated  in 
a  coi'ner  of  the  room,  while  their  husband  is  at  dinner,  and  wait  on  him. 
The  bulk  of  the  Mahommedans  are  enthusiasts,  and  have  among  them 
their  santos,  or  persons  who  pretend  to  a  superior  degree  of  holiness, 
and,  without  any  ceremony,  intrude  into  the  best  houses,  where  it  would 
be  dangerous  to  turn  them  out.  The  Egyptian  Turks  mind  religious 
affairs  very  little.  The  Copts  profess  themselves  to  be  Christians  of 
the  Greek  church,  but  they  embrace  transubstautiation;  in  which,  and 
other  points,  the  Catholics  of  Cairo,  think  they  approach  to  their  faith 
nearer  than  the  Greeks.  They  have  adopted  irovu  tlie  Mahommedans 
the  custom  of  frequent  prostrations  during  divine  service,  ablutions 
and  other  ceremonies  In  religious  and  other  matters  they  are  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  who,  by  the  dint  of 
money,  generally  purchases  a  protection  at  the  Ottoman  court." 

The  Egyptians  have  exchanged  their  literary  and  scientific  know- 
ledge for  the  bigotry,  gross  ignorance,  and  superstition,  of  their  Ma- 
hommedan  rulers,  the  caliphs.  These  waged  war  against  all  kinds  of 
literature,  but  the  Koran;  and  it  is,  with  good  authority,  said,  that  when 
thi^y  took  possession  of  Alexandria,  which  contained  the  greatest  libra- 
ry in  the  world,  its  valuable  contents  were  applied  for  a  considerable 
time  to  the  use  of  fuel  to  cook  their  victuals.  '*•  All  the  learning,  there- 
fore, of  the  modern  Egyptians,  consists  in  a  small  acquaintance  with 
mercantile  arithmetic  necessary  for  business,  the  jargon  of  astrology,  a 
little  superficial  knowledge  of  medicine,  and  of  ihr  MaiU)nu'>\edun  re"- 
Jigion." 

N  OL.  i;  T) 


26  Propagation  of  Christianity 

self,  and  to  offer  him  the  ser\  ices  of  the  church  of  the 
Brethren.  After  receiving  his  credentials  from  count  Zin- 
zendorf  to  the  Patriarch  of  the  Copts,  Dr.  Hooker  left  Lon- 
don in  May  1752,  and  in  August  following  he  arrived  safe 
at  Grand  Cairo.  Here  he  hired  a  house  for  himself,  in  which 
he  entertained  for  some  time  two  of  the  students  who  were 
sent  by  the  Institution  at  Halle,  in  Saxony,  to  attempt  the 
conversion  of  the  Jews;  and  he,  at  the  same  time,  formed  a 
friendly  acquaintance  with  most  of  the  Europeans  who  were 
resident  in  that  city.* 

After  acquiring  such  a  knowledge  of  the  Arabic  language 
as  to  be  able  to  write  it  with  tolerable  correctness,  he  trans- 
lated into  it  his  credentials,  and  delivered  them  to  the  Patri- 
arch of  the  Copts,  with  whom  he  had  many  agreeable  con- 
versations concerning  the  origin,  constitution  and  doctrine 
of  the  Brethren's  church,  as  well  as  concerning  the  state  of 
the  Coptic  and  Abyssinian  churches.     About  a  fortnight 
after,  he  received  an  answer  to  his  letter,  of  which  the  fol- 
lowing is  an  extract:   "  In  the  name  of  the  merciful  and 
gracious  God.    In  God  is  salvation.    From  Mark,!  the  ser- 
vant of  the  servants  of  the  Lord.     The  peace  of  our  Lord 
God,  and  the  Captain  of  our  salvation  Jesus  Christ,  which  he 
in  an  upper  room  at  Zion  poured   forth  upon  the  assembly 
of  excellent  disciples  and  apostles.     May  he  pour  out  this 
peace  upon  the  beloved,  excellent,  and  experienced,  brother, 
the  venerable  bishop  our  father  Aloysius,|  the  liturgist  of 
the  unity  of  the  Brethren.     This  is  to  testify,  beloved  bro- 
ther, that  the  blessed  son  and  venerable  deacon,  Iren^usf^ 
Hocker,  has  delivered  unto  us  your  letter,  which  was  full  of 

*   Crunti's  History  of  the  U;.itcd  Brethren. 

I  The  Patriarchs  of  the  Copts,  who  have  also  the  title  of  Patriarchs 
of  Alexandria,  Jei'usalem,  Abyssinia,  and  Nubia,  are  all  called  after  the 
Evangelist  INlark,  who  is  considered  as  the  founder  of  the  church  of 
Alexandria.   .  This  was  Mark  the  hundred  and  sixth. 

\  Lewis,  i.  e.  count  Zinzendorf. 

§  Frederick,  or,  in  German,  Friedrich,  i.  e.  Rich  in  peace. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  27 

uftcctionate  cordial  love.  We  have  read  it;  and  it  became 
unto  us  a  taste  of  your  love  to  all  Christians.  ^\^e,  in  like 
manner,  pray  God  for  you,  and  for  all  the  Christian  people, 
that  he  may  exalt  the  glory  of  the  Christians  in  the  whole 
habitable  world,  through  the  nutrition  of  his  life  giving 
cross."* 

With  regard  to  Abyssinia,  Dr.  Hocker  occasionally  made 
enquiries  of  such  persons  as  he  supposed  might  be  able  to 
give  him  any  information  concerning  the  state  of  that  country; 
and  he  learned,  among  other  particulars,  that  at  th:it  time  a 
Greek  was  at  the  helm  of  government,  and  that  he  endea- 
voured to  draw  foreigners  into  the  kingdom.  In  the  mean- 
while, a  French  gentleman  arrived  at  Cairo  with  a  great 
retinue,  designing  to  proceed  up  the  Nile,  and  to  penetrate 
into  Abyssinia.  He  endeavoured  to  persuade  Hocker  to 
accompany  him;  but  the  doctor  declined  the  proposal,  as  he 
knew  the  passage  up  the  Nile  was  impracticable  on  account 
of  the  immense  cataracts  on  that  river;  and  accordingly  this 
gentleman,  after  meeting  with  many  difficulties,  and  incurring 
much  expense,  was  obliged  to  return  without  cfi'ecting  his 
purpose.  There  was,  in  fact,  no  way  of  entering  Abyssi- 
nia, but  to  proceed  by  the  Red  Sea  to  the  island  of  Massuah, 
and  from  thence  to  Godar,  the  capital  of  the  country.  But 
as  all  the  ports  in  that  quarter  were  in  the  hands  of  the 
Turks,  who  would  "'scarcely  allow  a  European  to  enter  them, 
Hocker  determined  to  provide  himself  with  a  firman  or  pass 
from  the  Grand  Seignior,  in  order  to  remove  this  obstruction. 
He  accordingly  proceeded  in  the  spring  of  1754  to  Constanti- 
nople; and  though  the  plague  was  then  raging  in  that  city, 
he  succeeded  beyond  his  most  sanguine  expectations.  Be- 
sides obtaining  a  firman  from  the  Grand  Seignior,  lie  procu- 
red a  rescript  from  the  Grand  Vizier  to  the  Bashaw  of  Jidda 
on  the  Red  Sea,  a  letter  from  the  sheriff  at  Constantinople 
to  the  sheriff  at  Cairo,  some  letters  of  introduction  from 
several  European  ambassadors  to  the  consuls  of  their  res« 

•  Craiilz's  ir.btory  of  the  Uniud  lirellireii 


28  Propagation  of  Christianity 

pective  nations,  and  likewise  a  recommendation  from  the 
British  ambassador  to  the  prime  minister  of  Abyssinia, 
who  had  once  been  in  the  service  of  the  Enghsh.  With 
these  he  returned  to  Egypt,  intending  to  proceed,  as  soon  as 
possible,  on  his  voyage.  Meanwhile,  however,  the  Grand 
Seignior  died,  in  consequence  of  which  the  firman  became 
of  no  use.  Egypt  now  became  the  theatre  of  great  distur- 
bances and  danger;  and  therefore  Hocker  determined  to  go 
back  to  Europe,  and  to  wait  the  return  of  more  peaceful 
times.  He  accordingly  left  Cairo  in  the  beginning  of  May 
1755;  and  after  landing  at  Leghorn,  he  proceeded  byway  of 
Vienna,  and  through  Bohemia  to  Herrnhuth,  the  principal 
seat  of  the  Brethren,  where  he  arrived  in  September  follow- 
ing.* 

Dr.  Hocker  had  not  been  long  in  Europe,  when  he  de- 
termined to  renew  the  important,  yet  arduous  attempt.  In 
1756,  he  returned  to  Cairo,  accompanied  by  George  Pilder, 
a  student  of  divinity  from  the  seminary  of  the  Brethren.  On 
their  arrival  in  that  city,  they  received  intelligence  that  the 
king  of  Abyssinia  was  dead;  that  his  sucessor  was  a  prince 
only  seven  3''ears  old;  and  that  all  the  Greeks  had  been  com- 
pelled to  leave  the  country.  They  met,  however,  with  a 
friendly  reception  from  the  Patriarch  of  the  Copts;  and, 
during  their  stay,  they  had  some  useful  conversation  with 
him  and  his  clergy.  One  day,  when  tliey  attended  divine 
service  in  the  Coptic  church,  the  Patriarch  observing  them 
among  the  people,  sent  for  them  to  partake  with  them  in  the 
breaking  of  bread,  which  among  the  Copts  is  a  difterent 
ordinance  from  the  Lord's  Supper.  He  afterwards  took 
them  into  his  house  to  attend  the  AgapjE,  or  Inve-feasts  of 
the  clergy:  and  on  this  occasion,  there  was  much  conversa- 
tion concerning  the  church  of  the  Brethren,  with  which  they 
expressed  their  satisfaction.  Afterwards,  however,  the  Pa- 
triarch having  heard  various  unfavourable  reports  of  the 
Brethren,  began  to  examine  the   missionaries   concerning 

*  Crantz's  History  of  the  United  Brethren. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  29 

several  points  of  doctrine;  nor  would  he  give  them  a  letter 
of  recommendation  to  the  Abima  of  Abyssinia  until  he 
should  receive  from  them  an  account  in  writing,  of  the  origin, 
doctrine,  liturgy,  and  constitution  of  the  church  to  which 
they  belonged.  On  these  topics  they  were  soon  able  to  satisfy 
both  the  Patriarch  and  his  clergy.* 

Hitherto  the  Brethren  had  not  been  able  to  prosecute  the 
chief  design  of  their  mission;  but  in  the  autumn  of  1758, 
they  at  length  set  off  for  Abyssinia.  Having  crossed  the 
country  to  Suez,  they  embarked  on  board  a  small  Turkish 
vessel  on  the  Red  Sea;  but  after  a  tedious  and  troublesome 
voyage  of  eleven  days,  they  were  stranded  on  the  island  Has- 
sane.  The  sailors  made  their  escape  in  a  boat,  but  the 
Brethren  v/ere  obliged  to  remain  on  the  wreck,  which  was 
almost  entirely  under  water,  and  to  wait  for  a  considerable 
time  in  this  perilous  situation,  until  they  were  taken  ashore. 
Twenty  days  they  tarried  on  the  island  in  perpetual  danger 
of  their  lives  from  the  rapacious  Arabs,  and  even  from  their 
fellow  travellers,  who  took  it  into  their  heads  that  they  had 
vast  treasures  with  them.  Besides,  they  had  saved  little 
of  their  provisions  from  the  wreck,  and  even  fresh  water 
was  not  to  be  had;  so  that  from  hunger  and  thirst,  and 
from  heat  by  day  and  cold  by  night,  their  situation  was  ex- 
tremely distressing.  Having  left  this  place,  they  at  lengdi 
reached  the  port  of  Jidda,  on  the  coast  of  Arabia.  Here 
they  contracted  an  acquaintance  with  two  Turkish  merchants 
whom  the  regent  of  Abyssinia  had  commissioned  to  bring 
a  physician  for  the  prime  minister,  who  was  then  sick.  Be- 
ing earnestly  solicited  to  accompany  them,  the  Brethren 
would  gladly  have  embraced  so  favourable  an  opportunity  of 
entering  the  country;  but,  unfortunately,  when  the  vessel 
was  wrecked,  they  lost  their  chest  of  medicines,  and  various 
other  necessary  articles;  and  as  they  did  not  think  it  expedi- 
ent to  prepare  remedies  in  a  strange  country,  from  unknown 
substances,  they  resolved  to  return  to  Cairo,  to  supply  them- 

*  Cranlz's  Higlory  of  the  United  Brethren. 


30  Propagation  of  Christianity 

selves  with  new  medicines,  and  to  come  back  the  following 
year.  Meanwhile,  however,  they  transmitted  by  the  mer- 
chants a  letter  to  the  Abuna  John,  the  hundred  and  thirty, 
seventh,  together  with  a  copy  of  the  epistle  which  count 
Zinzendorf  had  addressed  to  him.* 

In  April,  1759,  the  Brethren  set  off  on  their  return  to 
Egypt,  by  way  of  Limbo,  where  diey  found  some  of  the 
articles  which  they  had  lost  by  the  stranding  of  the  vessel, 
but  were  at  great  expense  in  redeeming  them.     After  nar- 
rowly escaping  shipwreck  again  off  the  island  Hassane,  they 
at  length  arrived  at  Bossein  in  Upper  Egypt.    Before  their 
arri\'al,  however,  the  caravan  had  taken  its  departure;    but 
this  was  aA'cry  providential  circumstance  for  them,  as  it  was 
attacked  and  plundered  by  a  band  of  robbers.     Thej'  now 
proceeded  with  a  smaller  caravan,  by  a  different  route  from 
Avhat  was  usual,  to  Guena  on  the  Nile;  and  after  being  kind- 
ly entertained  at  Pharsus  by  some  flithers  of  the  church  of 
Rome,  they  prosecuted  their  voyage  along  that  river,  in 
company  with  several  barks,  though  not  without  considera- 
ble danger,  as  they  had  often  to  force  their  way  through  the 
midst  of  robbers.     On  reaching  Cairo,  they  found  that  the 
plague  had  been  raging  in  that  city,  and    had  swept  away 
great  numbers  of  the  inhabitants.     Both  the  Brethren  were 
now  sick.     On  this  account,  Pilder  was  soon  after  under  the 
necessity  of  returning  to  Europe;  and  in  1761,  Hocker  was 
obliged  to  follow  him  without  having   been  able  to  execute 
his  purpose  of  penetrating  into  Abyssinia,  f 

Dr.  Hocker,  however,  was  not  discouraged  by  these  re- 
peated disappointments,  and  resolved  not  to  abandon  the 
undertaking.  He  hoped,  that  in  the  patient  exercise  of  his 
medical  profession,  a  door  might  at  length  be  oj^ened  for 
promoting  the  interests  of  religion,  if  not  in  Abyssinia,  at 
least  in  Egypt.  In  1768,  he  again  set  off  for  Grand  Cairo, 
accompanied  by  Henry  Danke,  another  of  the  Brethren. 
On  their  arrival,  they  found  the  whole  country  in  a  state  of 

•  Crania's  History  of  the  United  Brethren.  |  Ibid. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  31 

terrible  confusion,  in  consequence  of  the  attempt  of  Aly  Bey 
to  mount  the  throne  of  Egypt,  and  to  erect  it  into  an  inde- 
pendent kingdom.  Hocker,  however,  was  received  in  the 
most  cordial  manner  by  his  old  acquaintances,  particularly 
by  the  Greek  and  Coptic  clergy.* 

In  tiie  meanwhile,  Mr.  John  Antes,  one  of  the  Brethren, 
who  was  particularly  distinguished  for  his  mechanical  genius, 
was  appointed  to  join  the  missionaries  in  Egypt.     In  Octo- 
ber 1769,  he  sailed   from  London;   and  after  a   voyage  of 
three  weeks,  arrived   at  Larnica,   in  the   island  of  Cyprus. 
Not  being   able   to  obtain   a  passage    from   this    place   to 
Egypt,  he  at  length  heard  there  was  a  vessel  at  Limasol,  a 
port  about  fifteen  leagues  to  the  westward,  bound  for  Alex- 
andria; and  though  he  was  then  extremely  ill  of  an  ague  he 
had  caught  immediately  after  his  arrival,  he  crept  out  of  bed, 
packed  up  his  luggage  during  the  paroxysm  of  the   fever, 
and  prepared  to  take  his  departure.  As  his  conductor  spoke 
no  language  but  Greek,  the  English  consul  procured  him  a 
muleteer  who  understood  Italian  to  carry  his  luggage  and 
provisions.     He  cautioned  him,   however,  against  his  very 
guides,  telling  him  they  would  murder  their  own  parents  if 
they  could  make  any  thing  by  it.     The  muleteer,   in  parti- 
cular, had  so  much  the  aspect  of  a  villain,  that   Mr.  Antes 
charged  a  pair  of  pocket  pistols  before  his  eyes,  and  placed 
them  in  his  belt,  to  shew  the  fello^v  he  was  perfectly  on  his 
guard.     Thus  equipped,  he  left  Larnica  in  the  dusk  of  the 
evening;   but  he  had  scarcely  proceeded  a  mile,  when  it 
began  to  rain  most  furiously,  attended  with  vivid  flashes  of 
lightning,  and  frequent  peals  of  thunder.     As  he  was  but 
imperfecdy  sheltered  from  the  storm  in  his  Turkish  dress, 
he  threw  a  bed  quilt  which  he  had  in  his  saddle  over  his 
head,  and  was  thus  led  in  a  manner  blindfolded,  entirely  at 
the  mercy  of  his  guides.     After  they  had  travelled  three  or 
four  hours  through  a  desert  country,  the  muleteer,  who  had 
the  charge  of  the  luggage  and  the  greater  part  of  the  provi- 

*  Cr^ntz's  Hislorv  oTlLe  Uiiitctl  I5jotl(rcn. 


32  Propagation  of  Christianity 

sions,  discovered  amon.s^  them  a  bottle  ot  spirituous  liquor, 
with  which  he  made  so  very  free,  that  he  lost  the  command 
of  his  mule,  and  the  animal  taking  advantage  of  this  circum- 
stance, ran  back  to  the  place  from  which  it  came,  with  the 
whole  of  its  cargo.  As' the  other  guide  endeavoured  to  as- 
sist him  in  catching  it,  he  likewise  forsook  Mr.  Antes,  who, 
from  the  manner  in  which  he  was  covered,  did  not  discover 
his  solitary  situation,  until  after  some  time,  he  no  longer 
heard  his  companions  following  him.  He  then  uncovered 
himself;  but  it  was  so  extremely  dark,  that  except  at  short 
intervals,  by  means  of  the  flashes  of  lightning,  he  could  sec 
nothing  even  at  the  distance  of  a  yard.  He  now  dismount- 
ed,  and  tied  his  mule  by  the  bridle  to  some  brush  wood 
near  the  path,  (for  it  was  only  like  a  sheep's  track),  and 
began  to  walk  back,  in  the  hope  of  iinding  at  least  one  of 
the  guides;  but  reflecting  on  the  littb  probability  there  was 
of  success,  he  returned  to  the  place  where  he  left  his  mule, 
generally  feeling  his  road,  except  when  he  obtained  a  glance 
of  it  by  means  of  the  lightning.  At  last,  when  he  got  near 
the  spot,  the  animal  gave  a  sudden  jerk,  broke  loose  from 
the  brushwood,  and  ran  away;  but  as  it  had  come  from 
Limasol,  it  of  course  followed  the  road  to  that  place.  After 
standing  a  considerable  time,  he  perceived,  by  means  of  the 
lightning,  a  person  coming  towards  him  mounted  on  an  ass; 
but  he  soon  discovered,  with  regret,  it  was  neither  of  his 
guides.  The  man,  on  approaching  him,  muttered  some- 
thing in  Greek;  but  not  finding  himself  understood,  he  pro- 
ceeded on  his  journey.  After  Mr.  Antes,  had  remained  long 
in  a  state  of  painful  suspense,  he  saw  his  conductor  return; 
but  as  they  were  ignorant  of  each  other's  language  he  could 
not  enquire  what  had  become  of  his  luggage.  On  learning, 
however,  that  our  traveller's  mule  had  run  away,  the  poor 
fellow  dismounted  from  his  beast,  and  made  him  get  upon 
it,  while  he  himself  walked  by  his  side,  through  a  deep  mire, 
and  under  a  constant  rain.  After  sometime,  they  discovered 
tlie  runaway  mule  on  the  path  before  them,  and  were  at 


by  the  United  Brethren,  Zo 

length  successful  in  catching  it.  About  midnight,  they 
reached  a  mud-built  cottage,  and  knocked  at  the  door. 
Never  in  his  life  was  Mr.  Antes  so  happy  to  get  under  a 
roof;  but  on  entering  in,  he  found  it  was  merely  a  shed, 
quite  open  on  the  other  side.  There  was,  however,  a  fire, 
and  some  men  were  13'ing  on  the  ground  around  it.  After 
he  had  taken  a  very  hearty  refreshment,  the  master  of  the 
house  conducted  him  into  a  kind  of  room,  furnished  him 
Avith  a  great  coat,  and  shewed  him  a  place  spread  with  a 
clean  sheet,  where  he  might  take  some  rest.  It  was  nothing 
but  a  large  chest,  but  oppressed  as  he  was  with  fatigue,  he 
soon  sunk  into  the  arms  of  sleep,  and  rested  most  comforta- 
bly till  about  eight  o'clock  next  morning,  when  his  guide 
came  in  and  made  signs  for  him  to  rise  and  prepare  for  his 
journe3\* 

The  day  was  extremely  cold  and  disagreeable.  What  had 
fallen  in  rain,  the  night  before,  in  the  valley,  proved  to  be 
snow  on  Mount  Olympus,  and  the  neighbouring  hills.  The 
sea  was  still  greatly  agitated,  in  consequence  of  the  late 
storm,  a  circumstance  which  proved  very  liarrassing  to  our 
travellers.  About  three  miles  from  the  village  where  they 
had  lodged  the  road  ran  along  the  sands;  and  as  the  coast 
was  perpendicular  like  a  wall,  and  the  waves  rolled  close  on 
the  shore,  their  legs  were  completely  drenched  in  the  water, 
which  often  reached  even  to  the  bellies  of  their  mules.  In 
this  manner  they  travelled  from  morning  till  about  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon;  and,  indeed,  Mr.  Antes  almost  gave 
himself  up  for  lost,  not  thinking  he  was  able  to  stand  the  wet 
and  cold  any  longer.  He  at  length,  however,  plucked  up 
courage,  in  the  hope  of  warming  himself  by  walking,  as  soon 
as  they  got  clear  of  the  waves.  The  moment  this  was  the 
case,  he  alighted  from  his  mule,  but  he  soon  found  that  he 
had  not  taken  the  exhausted  state  of  his  body  into  account, 
for  after  walking  two  or  three  hundred  yards,  he  f«ilt  himself 

*  Antes'  Obsei'vatioiis  on  the  Maiincis  ami  Customs  of  the  E"'pytlRns,  p.  55.  Pcri- 
odiccil  Accounts,  vol.  v.  p.  l.>9. 

VOL,  II.  E 


54  Propagation  of  Qhrxstianity 

unable  to  proceed  further,  and  was  obliged,  with  the  assis- 
tcince  of  his  guide,  to  mount  his  mule  again.  At  length, 
about  nine  o'clock  at  night,  they  arrived  at  Limasol,  at  the. 
house  of  a  Greek  who  acted  as  English  consul  at  that  place. 
Two  days  after,  the  muleteer  likewise  arrived,  with  the 
articles  committed  to  his  charge,  except  only  a  few  trifles 
which  he  had  purloined.*' 

After  waiting  about  a  week  at  Limasol,  Mr.  Antes  em- 
barked for  Egypt,  and  in  fne  days  reached  Alexandria;  but 
as  the  plague  had  bce;:.m  to  make  its  appearance  in  that  city, 
he  hastened  away  as  quickly  as  possible  to  Rosetta.  The 
voyage  from  thence  to  Cairo,  is  usually  performed  in  three 
or  four  days;  but  in  this  instance  it  was  no  less  than  eighteen. 
Besides,  at  that  time,  it  happened  to  rain  very  heavily,  as  it 
often  does  in  the  lower  parts  of  the  Delta,  in  the  winter 
season.  The  vessel  in  which  he  embarked  was  old  and 
crazy,  and  as  the  deck  was  far  from  water-tight,  the  rain 
penetrated  freely  through  it,  so  that  he  could  not  sit  dry 
even  in  the  cabin.  In  a  short  time  his  very  bed  began  to 
moulder  under  him,  and  he  was  obliged  to  suspend  it  with  a 
cord,  to  allow  the  water  to  run  off  underneath.  Even  his 
provisions  ran  short.  His  Jannissary,  or  guide,  had  provided 
sufficient  victuals  for  an  ordinary  voyage  of  five  or  six  days, 
consisting  of  bread,  fowls,  !kc.  but  as  it  was  protracted  so 
long,  the  bread  by  degrees  became  mouldy,  and  all  the  fowls 
were  consumed.  He  endeavoured  to  procure  some  rice  from 
the  Arabs;  but  besides  being  very  insipid,  it  was  black  and 
dirty  as  a  coal.  He  likewise,  though  with  difficulty,  obtained 
^.ome  fowls;  so  that,  on  the  whole,  they  had  very  scanty,  and 
not  the  most  agreeable  fare.  Besides,  the  wind  was  often 
so  contrary  and  so  boisterous,  that  they  repeatedly  lay  at 
anchor,  before  some  paltry  village,  four  or  five  days  toge- 
ther. When  the  sailors  were  urged  to  exert  themselves,  they 
always  exclaimed:  "  It  is  from  God  !  It  is  so  written  in  the 
book  of  fate!"  with  other  similar  expressions.     At  length 

*  Antes'  ObgeiTations,  p  58, 


by  the  United  Brethren.  35 

they  arrived  before  Bulac,  the  harbour  of  Grand  Cairo^ 
where,  as  if  to  complete  their  misfortunes,  the  vessel  strand- 
ed on  a  sand  bank  in  the  middle  of  the  river,  nor  were  they, 
with  all  their  eflbrts,  able  to  move  her.  Mr.  Antes,  however, 
got  ashore  in  a  boat,  and  proceeded  to  the  house  of  his 
brethren  Hocker  and  Danke,  \vho  gave  him  a  most  cordial 
reception  after  all  his  toils. *^ 

In  January  1773,  Mr.  Bruce,  the  celebrated  traveller,  vvha 
had  penetrated  into  Abyssinia  about  four  years  before,  re- 
turned safe  to  Cairo.  As  the  Brethren  were  sent  to  Egypt 
chiefly  with  the  view  of  visiting  that  country,  they  made 
various  enquiries  of  him  concerning  the  character  of  the 
inhabitants,  their  government,  religion,  manners,  customs, 
&c.  but  from  the  accounts  they  received  from  him,  they 
perceived,  that  unless  some  great  revolution  should  take 
place,  it  would  be  in  vain  to  think  of  establishing  a  mission 
in  a  kingdom  so  bigotted  in  its  o\x^i  faith,  and  so  torn  by 
anarchy  and  intestine  divisions.  Mr.  Bruce  informed  them, 
that  the  hatred  of  the  people  to  all  Europeans,  and  especially 
to  their  priests,  was  so  violent,  that  they  would  stone  a 
missionary  to  death  the  moment  he  opened  his  lips  on  the 
subject  of  religion;  that  thougli  he  himself  had  employed 
various  means  to  avoid  suspicion,  yet  it  was  with  the  utmost 
diiliculty  he  had  escaped  persecution  on  account  of  his  creed, 
and  even  this  would  have  been  altogether  impracticable,  had 
he  not  constantly  resided  at  court,  and  been  protected  by 
the  king  himself.  These  representations,  which  were  after- 
wards confirmed  by  several  Abyssinians  themselves,  destroy- 
ed all  the  hopes  of  the  Brethren  of  being  able  to  promote 
the  interests  of  religion  in  that  unhappy  countrj-.f 

As  the  missionary  Danke,  who  had  made  several  visits  to 
the  Copts  in  Upper  Egypt,  was  now  dead,  Mr.  Antes  pro- 
ceeded to  Behnesse  for  a  few  weeks  to  renew  the  corres- 
pondence with  them.  The  Nile  had  tlien  inundated  tiic 
country,  and  accordingly   the  boatmen,  after  sailing  a  few 

•  Antes'  O!  se.vations,  p.  j3.         \  FeriodicpJ  .■\croun*?,  rol.  v,  n.  164.. 


36  Propagation  of  Christianity 

days  in  the  channel  of  the  river,  turned  across  the  fields;  and 
being  now  in  no  great  danger  of  meeting  with  other  boats, 
they  began  to  display  their  character  in  its  true  colours; 
for  such  is  the  deceitfulness  of  their  disposition,  that  though 
they  may  appear  friendly  and  submissive  while  they  are   in 
town,  they  become  extremely  mischievous  and  insolent  the 
moment  they  think  themselves  beyond  the  reach  of  controul. 
Thus  they  acted  toward  Mr.  Antes.     Taking  advantiige  of 
his  dress,  they  gave  him  out  for  a  Turkish  soldier,  whenever 
it  was  possible  to  practice  the  statugeni,  and  in  this  manner 
made  use  of  him  as  a  tool  to  oppress,  the  country  people,  and 
to  compel  the  chiefs  of  the  villages  to  provide  the  best  pro- 
visions, not  only  for  him,  but  for  the  whole  company.     Ha- 
ving done  this  one  evening,  without  his  knowledge,  he  told 
them,  when  he  discovered  it,  that  he  should  certainly  expose 
them  if  they  ever  did  it  again.     They  repeated  the  farce, 
however,    the  very  next   morning,  and  even   gave   him  a 
Turkish  name,  by  which  he  was  addressed  by  the  Sheik  of 
the  village.     Being  entirely  in  the  power  of  these  people, 
and  as  he  knew  that  they  would  not  have  scrupled  to  have 
thrown  him  overboard,   if  he  had   offended  them,  he  was 
obliged  to  let  it  pass,  and  not  to  contradict  them,  especially 
as  the  chief  asked  no  questions.* 

During  his  stay  at  Behnesse,  Mr.  Antes  spoke  to  many  of 
the  Copts  concerning  the  love  of  Christ  Jesus  to  poor  guilty 
man,  entreating  them  to  devote  themselves  to  him,  by  whose 
name  they  were  called,  and  to  prove  themselves  as  his  faith- 
ful followers.  They  expressed  their  approbation  of  every 
thing  he  said;  but  it  was  too  evident  that  though  they  had  a 
custom  of  employing  the  phrases  of  scripture,  yet  most  of 
them  were  unimpressed  with  its  sacred  principles.  In  his 
return  to  Cairo,  the  boat  was  twice  attacked  in  the  night  by 
pilferers,  who  artfully  approach  the  vessels  by  swimming 
under  the  water,  snatch  away  whatever  happens  to  lie  withia 
their  reach,  and  suddenly  disappear  with  their  booty. f 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  v.  p.  165.  f  Ibid.  vol.  v.  p.  IfiO. 


by  the  Ujiited  Brethren.  37 

Soon  after  his  return,  Mr.  Antes  went  to  Alexandria,  to 
meet  with  Messrs.  Roller  and  Wienenger,  two  new  mission- 
aries who  were  expected  from  Europe,  and  to  conduct  them 
to  Cairo.  When  the  Brethren  arrived,   they  were  detained 
in  that  city  for  several  weeks,  and  were  obliged  to  lodge  in 
the  same  house  with  some  English  travellers,  among  whom 
there  was  a  medical  man  who  boldly  avov/ed  the  principles 
of  infidelity,  took  pleasure  in  ridiculing  the  Bible,  and  was 
continually   throwing  out  sarcasms  against  vital   religion. 
As  he  was  previously  acquainted  with  Mr.  Antes,  he  fre- 
quently visited  the  missionaries,  appeared  to  observe  them 
very  narrowly,  though  at  the  same  time  he  was  at  no  pains 
to  conceal  his  dislike  of  die  gospel.  The  evening  before  the 
Brethren  left  Alexandria,  he  was  sitting  alone  with  Mr.  Antes 
on  the  top  of  the  house,  when  he  began  to  address  him  in 
the  following  manner:   "  Sir,  I  must  beg  the  favour  of  you 
to  answer  me  one  question.  I  have  now  observed  you  all  very 
closely,  for  several  weeks,  under  a  variety  of  circumstances: 
You  do  not  hang  down  your  heads,  nor  look  gloomy,  like 
many  persons  who  pretend  to  be  religious;   you  are   frank 
and  cheerful,  and  yet  you  will  not  join  in  our  conversation. 
There  seems  to  be    something  which   renders  you   proof 
against  all  temptations.     Pray  tell  me  what  that  is,  and  how 
you  came  by  it."    To  this  Mr.  Antes  replied:   "  Though  I 
have   always  avoided  forcing  my  sentiments  upon  you,  as 
long  as  you  appeared  not  to  wish  it,  yet  as  you  now  ask  nit 
the   question,  I  am  v/illing  to  satisfy  you.    I   have  likewise 
closely  observed  you,  and  cannot  but  say  that  I  often  pitied 
you,  for  you  seem  to  labour  under  the  same  disease  as  I  once 
did.     I  have  now  heard  many  of  your  objections,  and   the 
reasons  vou  assign  for  not  Q-ivino:  credit  to  vvhut  is  recorded 
in  the  Bible;  yet  you  have  never  told  me  any  thing  new,  foi 
the  same  things  passed  through  my   mind  when  I  was  yet 
very  young;  but  with  all  my  reasoning  I  found  no  rest  to  m} 
soul,  and  cannot  Ijut  think  that  this  is  also  the  case  with  you.'" 
As  he  did  not  dcnv  it,   Mr.  Antes  coiuijuied:    "  I  had  read 


38  Propagation  of  Christianity 

the  scriptures,  that  it  is  then  only  we  can  be  convinced  of 
the  truth  of  the  gospel,  when  we  turn  to  Christ  Jesus,  who 
is  set  forth  as  our  Saviour,  sincerely  desiring  to  be  delivered 
from  the  slavery  of  sin.     I  now  thought  that  if  so  great  an 
object  could  be  obtained,  it  was  well  worth  my  while  to  give 
it  a  fair  trial,  and  to  set  about  it  in  good  earnest.     I  called 
upon  the  name  of  that  Jesus,  of  whose  power  to  save  I  had 
doubted,  and  obtained  faith  to  trust  in  him  for  salvation.  My 
deplorable  condition,  as  estranged  from  God,  alarmed  me 
more  than  ever;   and   I  saw  that   I  should  be  forever  lost, 
without  an  Almighty  Saviour.  This  made  me  turn  my  whole 
heart  to  that  Jesus  against  whom  you  seem  to  have  now,  as 
I  had  then,  so  much  to   object,  entreating  him  to    manifest 
himself  to  my  soul,  as  my  Redeemer.     He  did  not  leave  me 
long  in  suspence.     I  soon  experienced  something  which  I 
cannot  express  to  you  in  words,  nor  would  you  understand 
me  as  long  as  you  do  not  experience  it  yourself.   It  was  the 
peace  of  God  in  my  heart,  with  a  divine  conviction  that  my 
sins  were  forgiven  me.     I  began  to  feel  great  love  towards 
him,  and  found  that  in  him  I  had  power  to  resist  all  my 
natural  evil  propensities.  And  now,  though  I  cannot,  indeed, 
look  upon  mj'self  as  a  saint,  but  feel,  with  the  apostle  Paul, 
that  in  me  dvvelleth  no  good  thing;  yet  whenever  any  thing 
of  my  natural  depravity  shews  itself,  I  immediately  apply  to 
the  same  source  for  relief  where  I  first  found  it,  and  am 
never  disappointed.      This   is   the  cause   why   I  and   my 
brethren  appear  cheerful;   for  no  one  has  more  reason  to  be 
so,  than  he  who  feels  the  peace  of  God  in  his  soul."  When 
the  doctor  had  heard  this  simple  statement,  he  replied,  with 
a  deep  sigh:    "  I  fear  there  is   something  in  what  you  have 
said."     He  afterwards  shewed  the  Brethren  great  attention, 
rose  next  morning  many  hours  before  his  usual  time  to  see 
them  awa}',  took  a  very  affectionate  leave  of  them,   and  re- 
mained standing  on  the  beach,  looking  after  them,  as  long 
as  it  was  possible   to   distinguish  them.     He  promised  to 
write  to  Mr.  Antes,  but  the  latter  never  received  anv  letter 


by  the  United  Brethren,  39 

from  him,  nor  did  he  learn  what  had  become  of  him  till 
many  years  afterwards,  when  an  English  gentleman,  who 
was  present  when  the  accident  happened,  told  him  that  he 
was  killed  at  Naples  by  a  fall  from  his  horse.* 

During  the  residence  of  the  Brethren  in  Egypt,  the  coun- 
try was  in  a  state  of  great  anarchy  and  confusion,  and  they, 
as  well  as  other  Europeans,  occasionally  experienced  no 
small  abuse,  not  only  from  the  populace,  but,  in  some  In- 
stances, even  from  the  men  in  power.f  In  November  1779, 
Mr.  Antes  had  the  misfortune  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  a  Bey, 
who,  in  the  hope  of  extorting  money  from  him,  treated  him 
in  a  most  barbarous  manner.  As  his  occupation  was  chiefly 
of  a  sedentary  nature,  he  found  it  necessary  to  take  frequent 
exercise  in  the  open  air  for  the  preservation  of  his  health, 
especially  as  the  pLxe  of  their  residence  was  in  a  close  in- 
salubrious part  of  the  town.  On  this  account  he  often  went 
into  the  fields;  but  the  heat  of  the  climate  was  so  enervating, 
that  when  he  had  no  particular  object  to  call  forth  his  ac- 
tivity, he  was  always  inclined  to  sit  down  and  rest  himself 
under  the  shade  of  a  tree,  by  which  means  the  chief  aim  of 
his  walk  was  frustrated.  To  remedy  this,  he  sometimes 
took  a  fowling  piece  with  him,  particularly  in  winter,  when 
there  was  commonly  plenty  of  game,  such  as  snipes,  wild 
ducks,  geese,  curlieus,  quails.  Sec.  in  the  marshes  and  ponds, 
which  the  inhabitants  of  every  description  are  at  perfect 
liberty  to  shoot,  as  the  Turks  are  too  indolent  to  fatigue 
themselves  with  that  exercise.  To  meet  the  Beys,  however, 
or  other  men  in  power,  was  dangerous,  as  they  were  always 
ready,  under  some  pretext  or  other,  to  extort  money,  especial- 
ly from  EuropeanSj'whom  they  generally  supposed  to  be  rich; 
but  as  they  had  commonly  a  numerous  train  with  them,  it 
was  easy  on  that  account,  and  from  the  flatness  of  the  coun- 
try, to  perceive  them  at  a  consideral  distance,  and  so  avoid 
them.  In  this  way  Mr.  Antes  had  eluded  them  for  many 
years:  but  one  day  when  he  was  out  on  this  diversion,  in 

♦  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  v.  p.  167.  t  IbiJ.  vol.  v.  p.  165. 


40  Fropagatioji  of  Cliristiamty. 

company  with  the  secretary  to  the  Venetian  consul,  he  and 
his  companions  were  observed  by  some  Mamelukes  be- 
longing to  one  Osman  Bey,  as  they  were  returning  home. 
The  tyrant  himself  and  his  train  were  near  at  hand;  but  they 
were  concealed  from  their  view  by  some  hillocks  of  rubbish, 
which  are  very  numerous  all  round  Cairo,  several  of  which 
are  so  high  as  to  overlook  almost  the  whole  city.  Two  of 
the  Mamelukes  immediately  rode  up  towards  them  at  full 
gallop,  with  drawn  swords  in  their  hands,  followed  by  others 
on  foot.  They  instantly  stripped  them  of  their  fur  coats, 
shawls,  and  whatever  else  of  importimce  they  had  about 
them,  and  demanded,  at  the  same  time,  one  hundred maktubs, 
or  Turkish  zechins,  each  in  value  about  seven  shillings  and 
six  pence,  threatening  to  carry  them  before  their  master 
unless  they  immediately  complied  with  their  wishes.  Mr. 
Antes  told  them  they  had  no  such  sum  about  them,  and 
taking  out  his  purse  offered  it  to  them.  They  at  first  took  it, 
but  finding  that  it  contained  only  about  twenty-five  shillings, 
in  small  silver  pieces,  they  threw  it  back  again  with  disdain, 
crying  "  Da  Sikab,*'  that  is,  gold.  As  he  knew  that  he 
had  nothing  to  expect  from  them  but  ill  treatment,  he  told 
them  that  he  had  no  gold  with  him,  but  if  they  would  go 
home  with  him,  he  would  give  them  some.  Upon  this 
they  cursed  and  swore,  not  being  at  liberty  to  leave  their 
master.  Meanwhile  ten  more  of  the  ruffians  came  up  on 
horseback,  and  repeated  the  same  demand  of  gold,  enforcing 
it  with  the  threat  of  carrying  him  before  the  Bey  if  he  re- 
fused to  comply.  To  this  Mr.  Antes  again  answered,  that 
he  had  none  upon  him,  but  that  he  would  give  them  some 
if  they  would  go  with  him.  At  last  the  principal  man 
among  them  said:  "  Go  you  home  and  fetch  your  gold; 
but  w^e  will  keep  your  companion  here,  and  if  you  do  not 
speedily  return,  we  will  cut  off"  his  head."  As  the  poor  Ve- 
netian, who  could  not  speak  a  word  of  Arabic,  was  over- 
whelmed with  fear  and  trembling,  Mr.  Antes  could  not 
think  of  leaving  him  in  the  hands  of  these  merciless  barba- 


I) ij  the  United  Brethren.  41 

rians,  and  therefore  he  generously  rephed,  that  his  friend 
might  go  and  bring  the  money,  but  that  he  would  remain 
with  them.  He  had  scarcely,  however,  advanced  a  few 
steps,  when  the  servants,  fell  upon  him,  and  stripped  him  of 
the  few^  clothes  he  had  left,  so  that  he  was  obliged  to  fly 
nearly  naked  into  the  city.  By  this  time  the  sun  had  set, 
and  it  began  to  grow  dark;  and  as  the  Mamelukes  durst  not 
stay  away  from  their  master  till  the  Venetian  could  return, 
one  of  them  rode  up  to  the  tyrant,  and  told  him  they  had 
seized  a  European,  from  whom  some  money  might  be  ob- 
tained. As  the  fellow  soon  returned  with  an  order  to  bring 
the  prisoner  before  him,  they  placed  him  between  their 
horses,  and  dragged  him  to  the  place  where  the  Bey  was 
sitting  wdth  his  train  about  him.  Mr.  Antes,  as  he  approach- 
ed the  chief,  addressed  him  in  the  usual  Arabic  phrase:  "  I 
am  under  your  protection."  To  this,  if  they  are  not  mali- 
ciously inclined,  they  commonly  reply:  "You  are  welcome." 
But  the  Bey,  instead  of  answering  him  at  all,  stared  furiously 
at  him,  and  then  asked;  "  Who  are  you?"  "  I  am  an  Eng- 
lishman," replied  Mr,  Antes.  "•  What  are  you  doing  here 
in  the  night?"  said  the  tyrant:  "  You  must  be  a  thief. 
Aye,  aye,  most  likely  the  one  w^ho  did  such  a  thing  the 
other  day."  To  this  Mr.  Antes  answered:  "  I  was  enter- 
ing the  city  gates  half  an  hour  before  sun-set,  when  I  was 
seized  by  your  Islamelukes,  and  detained  till  now,  when,  in- 
deed, it  is  dark,  but  yet  not  an  hour  after  sun-set,  the  regu- 
lar time  for  shutting  the  gates."  Without  saying  any  thing 
in  reply,  the  Bey  pointed  to  one  of  his  officers,  and  ordered 
him  to  carry  the  prisoner  to  the  castle,  a  building  at  some 
distance  from  the  town,  situated  in  an  extensive  sandy  plain,, 
where  most  of  the  Beys  have  houses,  and  exercise  their 
Mamelukes.* 

Every  month,  one  of  the  Beys  in  rotation  takes  his  sta- 
tion at  this  place,  in  order  to  guard  the  city  by  night  against 
the  depredations  of  the  wandering  Arabs;  and  it  so  happened 

*  Antes'"  Ob..ei'valiuns,  p.  115.     Period.  Accounts,  mA.  v,  p.  1G9. 
VOL.   II.  F 


42  Propagation  of  Christianity 

that  this  v/as  the  turn  of  Osman  Bey.  Before  he  was  re- 
moved to  this  place,  Mr.  Antes  wished  to  say  a  few  words 
more  iu  Iiis  own  behalf;  but  he  was  pre\'ented  by  a  horde 
of  ser\'ants,  lA'ho  are  always  glad  to  have  an  opportunity  of 
insulting  a  European.  One  gave  him  a  kick  on  one  side,  a 
second  on  the  other;  one  spat  in  his  face,  Vv^hile  another  put 
a  rope  about  his  neck  made  of  the  filaments  of  the  date  tree, 
which  is  m.uch  rougher  than  horse  hair.  By  this  rope,  a 
fellow  in  rags  was  ordered  to  dnig  him  along,  another  on 
horse -back,  armed  with  a  sword  and  pistol,  to  guard  him. 
In  their  way  to  the  castle,  they  passed  a  gentle  slope,  Avith  a 
large  garden,  surrounded  by  a  mud-wall  on  the  left;  and  as 
the  gardens  here  consisted  chiefly  of  irregular  plantations  of 
orange,  lemon,  and  other  prickly  trees,  through  which  no 
horse  can  pass,  it  occurred  to  Mr.  Antes,  that  he  might  cut 
the  rope  by  which  he  was  held,  and  make  his  escape  over 
the  wall;  but  on  searching  for  his  knife,  he  found  it  W'as  gone. 
Soon  after,  the  fellow  in  rags  advised  him  to  give  money  to 
the  guard,  who  would  then  let  him  escape.  The  word 
money  operated  like  an  electrical  shock  on  the  guard,  who 
instantly  came  galloping  up  to  him,  and  asked  him  whether 
he  had  any  money  left?  Mr.  Antes  replied  that  he  would 
give  him  what  he  had  if  he  would  let  him  go;  and  accord- 
ingly he  gave  him  the  purse  which  the  Mamelukes  had  re- 
fused. Having  looked  at  it,  the  ruffian  put  it  into  his  pocket 
without  saying  a  \v'ord,  but  still  drove  him  forward  till  they 
arrived  at  the  castle.  Here  Mr.  Antes  was  thrown  into  a 
dungeon,  half  under  ground;  a  large  iron  chain  was  put 
round  his  neck,  secured  at  one  end  by  a  padlock,  and 
fastened  at  the  other  to  a  piece  of  timber.  In  about  half 
an  hour  the  Bey  himself  arrived  with  his  retinue,  lighted 
flambeaus  being  carried  before  him.  He  alighted,  walked 
up  stairs  into  a  room,  sat  down  in  a  corner,  while  all  his  peo- 
ple placed  themselves  in  a  circle  round  him.  Mr  Antes 
was  then  sent  for,  unchained,  and  led  up  to  the  chamber  by 
two  mcji.     In  going  up  stairs,  he  heard  the  rattling  of  the 


by  the  United  Brethren.  43 

instruments  used  for  the  bastinado,  and  immediately  guessed 
what  was  belbre  him.     On  entering  tlie  room,  he  found  a 
small  neat  Persian  carpet  spread  for  him,  which  was  in  fact 
a  piece  of  civility,  for  the   common  people  when  about  to 
receive  the  bastinado,  are  thrown  on  the  bare  ground.     Af- 
ter asking    him  a  question  or  two,  the   Bey  exclaimed, 
*'  throw  him  down."     Mr.  Antes  then  enquired  what  he 
had  done.     "How,  you  dog,"  answered  the  tyrant,   "  dare 
you   ask  what  you  have  done?  Throw  him  down."     The 
servants  immediately  threw  him  flat  on  his  face,  and  with  a 
strong  staff,   about  six  feet  long,  having  a  peicc  of  an  iron 
chain   fixed  to   both  ends,   confined  to  his  feet  above  the 
ancles.     Two  of  them,  one  on  each   side,  then   twisted  the 
staff  and  chain  together,  so  as  to  turn  up  the  soles  of  his  feet; 
and  being  provided   with  what  is   called  a  corbage,   which 
consists  of  a  strap  of  the  skin  of  the  hippopotamus,  about  a 
yard  in  length,  somewhat  thicker  than  a  man's   finger,  and 
very  tough  and  hard,  they  waited  for  the   orders   of  their 
master.     When  they  had  placed  him  in  this  position,  an 
officer  came  and  whispered  in  his  ear,  "  do  not  suffer  your- 
self to  be  beaten;  give  him  a  thousand  dollars,    and  he  will 
let  you  go."    Mr.  Antes,  however,  reflected,  that  should  he 
now  offer  any  thing,  the  Bey  would  probably  send   one  of 
liis  men  with  him  to  receive  it;  and  that  he  would  be  obliged 
to  open,  in  the  presence  of  this  officer,  his  strong  chest,  in 
which  he  kept  not   only  his  own  money,  but  considerable 
sums  belonging  to  others,  which  he  had  received  in  payment 
for  goods  belonging  to  different   merchants,  and  that  the 
whole  of  this  would,  in  all  probability,  be  taken  from  him. 
Being  determined,  therefore,   not  to  involve  others   in   his 
misfortunes,  he  said  *'  Mafish,"  that  is,  "no  money;"  upon 
which  the  Bey  immediately  ordered  the  servants  to  strike. 
They  accordingly  laid  on  at  fn-st  pretty  moderately;  but  yet 
Mr.  Antes  gave  himself  up  for  lost,  considering  that  his  life 
was  in  the  hands  of  a  capricious  tyrant,  to  whose  unrelent- 
ing cruelty  many  others  had  fallen  a  sacrifice.  Having  there^ 


44  Propagation  of  Christianity 

fore  no  other  refuge  but  the  mercy  of  God,  he  commended 
his  soul  to  him,  and  he  experienced  his  gracious  support  on 
this  trying  occasion,  in  so  remarkable  a  manner  that  the  fear 
of  death  was  entirely  destroyed.  After  they  had  beaten 
him  for  some  time,  the  officer,  supposing  probably  that  he 
might  now  have  become  more  tractable,  again  whispered 
into  his  ear  the  word  money,  but  now  the  sum  was  doubled. 
Mr.  Antes  again  answered,  "  I  have  none  here."  They 
then  laid  on  more  roughly  than  before;  every  stroke  now  felt 
like  the  application  of  a  red  hot  poker.  At  last  the  officer 
thinking  that  though  he  had  no  money,  he  might  have  some 
valuable  goods,  once  more  whispered  in  his  ear  something 
to  that  effect.  As  Mr.  Antes  knew  that  English  fire-arms  often 
attract  their  fanc}^,  even  more  than  money,  he  offered  them 
an  elegant  blunderbuss,  richly  mounted  with  silver,  which 
he  could  have  got  without  opening  his  strong  chest.  The 
Bey  having  enquired  what  he  said;  the  officer,  lifting  up  Iiis 
finger,  exclaimed  with  a  sneer,  "  only  a  blunderbuss."  To 
this  the  tyrant  replied,  "  beat  the  dog."  They  now  began  to 
lay  on  with  all  their  might.  The  pain  at  first  was  excruciat- 
ing beyond  conception,  but  after  some  time  all  sensation 
ceased;  it  seemed  only  like  beating  a  bag  of  wool.  When 
the  Bey  at  length  perceived  that  no  money  could  be  extorted 
from  him,  he  probably  thought  the  prisoner  might  in  fact 
be  a  poor  man,  and  therefore  ordered  them  to  take  him  awav. 
Upon  this  they  loosed  his  feet;  but  yet  he  was  obliged  to 
walk  down  to  the  dungeon  with  the  chain  about  his  neck. 
In  about  half  an  hour,  a  messenger  came  with  orders  to  bring 
him  up  again.  The  servants  now  took  off  the  cliain,  and 
after  carrying  him  till  he  was  near  the  door,  told  him  to  walk 
in  or  the  Bey  would  beat  him  again.  Mr.  Antes  was  at  first 
afraid  that  some  one  had  told  him,  that  with  a  little  more 
beating,  money  might  yet  be  obtained  from  him.  There 
are  instances,  indeed,  of  the  bastinado  being  repeated  for 
three  days  successively,  to  the  number  of  one  or  two  thou- 
sand strokes.    Persons  of  verjj;  vigorous  constitutions  nuiy 


by  the  United  Brethren,  45 

still  perhaps  survive;  but  in  general,  after  five  or  six  hundred 
strokes,  the  blood  i^ushes  from  the  mouth  and  nose,  and  the 
unhappy  wretch  dies  either  under  the  torture,  or  immediate- 
ly after.* 

When  Mr.  Antes  entered  the   chamber,   the  Bey  said  to 
one  of  his  ofiicers,  "  Is  this  the  man  of  whom  you  told  me?" 
The  fellow  then  having  stepped  up  to  the  prisoner,  and  stared 
him  in  the  face,  as  if  narrowly  to  inspect  his  features,  on  a 
sudden  lifted  up  his  hands,  and  exclaimed,  "  By  Allah  it  is! 
Why,  this  is  the  best  man  in  all  Cairo,   and  my  particular 
friend.     Oh!  how  sorry  am  I  that  I  was  not  here  ijelbre  to 
tell  you  so,"  with  other  expressions  of  a  similar  kind.     To 
this  the  Bey  replied,  "  then  take  him.      I  give  him  to  you; 
and  if  he  has  lost  any  thing,  see  to  get  it  restored."     Mr. 
Antes  had  never  in  his  life  seen  tlie  officer  before;  and   he 
soon  perceived  that  the  whole  was  merely  a  trick  to  get  rid 
of  him  in  a  decent  manner,  and  to  put  a  little  money  into  the 
pocket  of  his  pretended  deliverer.     He  was  obliged  to  walk 
once  more  till  he  was  out  of  the  Bey's  sight,  when  the  servants 
of  his  "  particular  friend"  took  him  up  and  carried  him  to  his 
house,  which  was  at  a  considerable  distance.  Here  the  offi- 
cer gave  him  something  to  eat,  and  made  him  a  tolerably  de- 
cent bed,  which  was  the  more  welcome  to  him,  as  he  had 
lost  most  of  his  clodies,  and  felt  extrem.ely  cold.  Mr.  Antes 
asked  him,  whether  what  he  had  suffered  was  a  proof  of  the 
boasted  hospitality  of  his  countrymen  to  strangers'?  but  he  got 
no  answer  from  him  excepting  this,  "  It  is  from  God!   It  is 
so  written  in  the  book  of  fate,  which  cannot  be   altered!" 
After  the  officer  had  anointed  his  feet  with  a  certain  balsam, 
and  tied  some  rags  about  them,  Mr.  Antes  lay  down  to  rest, 
but  spent  a  very  uncomfortable   night,   suffering  as  might 
naturally  be  expected,  most  exquisite  pain.  In  the  morning, 
the  artful  fellow  asked  him  whether  he  was  acquainted  with 
the  master  of  the  customs;  and  being  answered  in  the  affir- 
mative,  he  offered  to  carry  him  to  his  house.  Having  set  his 

*  An'fs'Observaions,  p.  1.19.     Period.  Accounts,  vol.  v.  p.  171. 


46  Propagation  of  Christianity 

patient  on  an  ass,  while  he  himself  mounted  a  horse,  they 
proceeded  towards  the  city,  accompanied  by  another  soldier- 
On  approaching  the  gate,  the  officer  told  him  to  take  off  his 
rags,  as  it  would  be  a  disgrace  to  him  to  ride  into  the  town 
in  that  condition.  "  No  disgrace  to  me,"  said  Mr.  Antes, 
"  but  to  him  who  has  treated  me  so  shamefully."  *'  It  is 
from  God,"  &.c.  was  the  answer  of  the  officer.  On  arriv- 
ing at  the  master  of  the  custom's  house,  Mr.  Antes  requested 
that  person  to  settle  every  thing  for  him  with  his  pretended 
deliverer;  and  on  summing  up  the  fees,  it  was  found  that  he 
had  about  20/.  to  pay  for  this  piece  of  service.  Being  then 
carried  home,  he  was  put  to  bed,  and  was  confined  to  it  about 
six  weeks,  before  he  could  walk  even  on  crutches;  and  for  full 
three  years  after,  his  feet  and  ancles,  which  had  been  greatly 
hurt  by  the  twisting  of  the  chain,  were  very  liable  to  swel- 
ling.* 

In  1782,  Mr.  Antes  returned  to  Europe,  to  attend  a 
general  synod  of  the  Brethren's  church  at  Bertholsdorf  in 
Saxony.  It  was  deemed  proper  that  he  should  return  again 
to  Egypt;!  and,  indeed,  as  the  missionaries  had  little  pros- 
pect of  success  in  that  countr)'^,  and  no  hope  of  being  able 
to  penetrate  into  Abyssinia,  the  mission  was  given  up  soon 
after.! 


SECTIOjY  VIIL 

Labrador.^ 

THE  Brethren  settled  in  Greenland  having  been  induced 
by  some  circumstances,  to  suspect  that  the  inhabitants  of 
that  country  had  originally  come  from  North  America,  and 

*  Antes'  Observations,  p.  123.     Period.  Accounts,  vol.  v.  p.  174. 
t  Period.  Accounts,  vul.  v.  p.  176.  %  Poid.  p.  16. 

§  Labrador  is  that  part  of  the  country  called  the  Esquimaux,  or  New 
Britain  lying  round  Hudson's  Bay,  which  lies  on  the  east  side  of  the 


by  the  United  Brethren.  ATi 

that  probably  some  of  the  same  nation  might  still  exist  in  that 
quarter  of  the  globe,  had  often  felt  a  strong  desire  to  discover 
them,  and  to  introduce  Christianity  among  them.  Matthew 
Stach  even  applied  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  for  per- 
mission to  go  and  preach  the  gospel  to  the  Indians  in  their 
factories;  but  his  application,  for  what  reason  we  know  not, 
was  rejected.*  Some  of  the  Brethren,  however,  in  London, 
in  company  with  several  merchants,  resolved  to  fit  out  a  ves- 
sel to  trade  on  the  coast  of  Labrador;  and  they  requested 
count  Zinzendorf  to  send  some  missionaries  with  her  to 
plant  the  gospel  in  that  inhospitable  country.! 

In  May  1752,  four  missionaries  sailed  from  London  on 
board  this  vessel,  together  with  Christian  Erhard,  a  Dutch 
mate,  who  had  been  several  times  on  the  whale  fishery  in 
Davis'  Straits,  had  learned  some  Greenland  words,  and  had 
now  joined  the  church  of  tlie  Brethren.  They  took  with 
them  a  house  ready  framed,  a  boat,  various  kinds  of  imple- 
ments, and  seeds  for  the  cultivation  of  the  ground;  and  im- 
mediately  on  their  arriyal,  began  to  make  preparations  for 
their  settlement  in  the  country.  Meanwhile,  Erhard  pro- 
ceeded with  the  ship  to  the  northward,  for  the  purpose  of 
trade,  and  was  able  to  make  himself  tolerably  well  under- 
stood by  the  Esquimaux;  but  as  they  were  afraid  to  ven- 
ture on  board  on  account  of  the  guns,  he  was  induced  to  go 
ashore  in  an  unarmed  boat,  with  five  other  men,  in  a  bay 
between  the  islands.  This  circumstance,  for  the  present, 
proved  the  ruin  of  the  mission.  Neither  Erhard  nor  his 
companions  ever  came  back,  and  as  the  ship  had  no  other 
boat,  it  was   impossible  to  send  in  quest  of  them.     On  re- 

*  Crantz's  History  of  Greenland,  vul.  11.  p.  15J. 
f  Crantz-'s  History  of  tlie  United  Brethren. 

Bay,  and  is  bounded  by  Canada  on  the  south,  by  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
and  Davis's  Strait  on  the  east  and  north-east. 

The  native  inhabitants  of  this  country  appear  to  be  of  a  different  race 
to  the  other  native  Americans,  being  distinguished  from  them  in  a  par- 
ticular manner  by  a  thick  and  bushy  beard.  They  seem  to  be  the  same 
people  as  the  Greenlanders,  and  very  much  resemble  the  Laplander-^^ 
and  Samoids  of  the  north  of  Europe  and  Asia. 


48  Propagation  of  Christianity 

turning  to  the  missionaries,  the  captain  represented  to  them 
his  distress;  that  having  lost  the  best  of  his  men,  together 
\vith  the  boat,  he  was  not  able  to  accomplish  the  voyage 
homeward,  and  therefore  he  begged  them  to  go  back  witli 
him  and  assist  in  the  management  of  the  vessel.  Under  such 
circumstances,  they  could  not  refuse  his  request.  They 
left  the  country  with  regret;  but  it  was  in  the  hope  of  re- 
turning the  following  year.  On  their  arrival  in  England, 
however,  it  was  not  deemed  expedient  to  renew  the  attempt, 
until  information  should  be  received  of  the  safety  of  Erhard 
and  his  companions;  and  as  on  the  return  of  the  ship  the  en- 
suing season,  some  of  their  bodies  were  discovered,  from 
Vv'hich  it  was  concluded  they  had  been  murdered  by  the  sav- 
ages, the  mission  was  for  the  present  abandoned.* 

In  1764,  Jens  Haven,  who  had  laboured  for  some  years 
as  a  missionary  in  Greenland,  offered  to  renew  the  attempt 
of  planting  Christianity  among  the  Esquimaux.  With  this 
view  he  came  to  England,  and  by  the  assistance  of  the 
Brethren  in  this  country,  obtained  permission  to  form  a  set- 
tlement on  the  coast  of  Labrador,  under  the  patronaeje  of 
sir  Hugh  Palliser,  the  governor  of  that  country  and  of  the 
nei^hbourinn-  island  of  Newfoundland.  He  sailed  on  this 
hazardous  undertaking  that  very  season;  and  after  landing 
in  various  places,  he  at  length  discovered  a  number  of 
Esquimaux  on  the  island  of  Quirpont,  on  the  north-cast 
point  ol"  Newfoundland;  and  as  he  was  able  to  speak  with 
tliem  in  their  own  language,  which  was  very  similar  to  the 
Greenland,  they  were  struck  with  no  small  degree  of  asto- 
nishment, this  having  never  before  been  done  by  any  Euro- 
pean. He  informed  them  that  the  design  of  his  voyage  v/as 
to  make  known  to  them  the  true  God,  and  the  uay  to 
heaven;  and  after  being  treated  by  them  for  some  days  with 
all  imaginable  kindness,  he  took  leave  of  them,  promising  to 
return,  the  following  year.  [ 

Hitherto  no  European  had  been  safe  among  these  savages, 

*  Crar.tz's  History  of  Uie  United  Brethren.         f  Ibid. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  *         49 

and  therefore  the  friendship  they  manifested  to  our  mission- 
ary was  extremely  agreeable  to  governor  Palliser,  and  to 
the  Board  of  Trade  and  Plantations.  Haven,  accordingly, 
did  return  the  following  year,  accompanied  by  two  or  three 
other  Brethren.  They  travelled  still  further  into  die  interior 
of  the  country;  and,  on  their  return  to  the  ship,  they  met 
with  some  hundreds  of  the  Esquimaux,  to  whom  they 
preached  the  gospel  for  some  wrecks.  Much,  however,  as 
the  establishment  of  a  mission  in  Labrador  was  desired,  not 
only  by  the  Brethren,  but  by  some  persons  of  high  rank  in 
England,  yet,  owing  to  a  variety  of  circumstances,  it  was 
again  found  necessary  to  defer  it  for  the  present.* 

Meanwhile,  the  well-known  Esquimaux  woman,  Mikak, 
was  brought  from  Labrador  to  London.  She  was  extremely 
happy  to  find  in  Jens  Haven  one  who  could  talk  her  lan- 
guage, and  earnestly  begged  him  to  return  and  help  her 
poor  countrymen,  who,  she  said,  were  almost  ruined,  many 
of  them  having  been  killed  in  a  late  aifray  with  the  English. 
From  the  notice  she  received  from  many  persons  of  rank 
and  influence,  her  repeated  applications  Avere  of  considera- 
ble use  in  forwarding  the  mission;  and  the  privy  council  at 
length  issued  a  grant  to  the  Brethren,  permitting  them  to  form 
settlements  on  the  coast  of  Labrador,  and  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  the  Esquimaux.  Still  further  to  forward  the  un- 
dertaking, some  Brethren  in  London,  who  took  a  deep 
interest  in  its  success,  purchased  a  vessel,  with  which  they 
resolved  not  only  to  convey  the  missionaries  to  the  place  of 
their  destination,  but  to  supply  them  annually  with  the  ne- 
cessaries of  life;  and  in  order  that  they  might  be  able  to 
support  the  expense,  they  agreed  to  carry  on  some  kind  of 
trade  with  the  Esquimaux. | 

In  1770,  Jens  Haven,  accompanied  by  Christian  L. 
Drachart,  who  had  been  employed  for  many  years  in  the 
Danisli  mission  in  Greenland,  and  Stephen  Jensen,   sailed 

•  Cr-inti's  History  of  tlie  United  Brethren, 
t  IVriod.  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  107. 
vol.,  ir.  Q 


50  Propagation  of  Christianity 

for  the  coast  of  Labrador,  with  the  view  of  exploring  tlic 
country,  and  fixing  a  situation  for  a  settlement.  Having 
chosen  that  spot  which  goes  by  the  name  of  Nain,  they 
purchased  the  land  from  the  Esquimaux,  and  then  return- 
ed to  London  to  make  preparations  for  settling  in  the  coun- 
try.* 

In  1771,  they  again  sailed  for  the  coast  of  Labrador,  and 
after  a  dangerous  voyage  along  a  rocky  unfrequented,  in- 
hospitable shore,  they  arrived  at  the  place  which  they  had 
previously  fixed  on  for  a  settlement.!  Having  taken  with 
them  the  frame  of  a  house,  they  immediately  began  to  erect 
it,  with  the  assistance  of  the  sailors;  and  though  this  was  a 
work  of  some  difficulty,  yet  happily  the  Esquimaux  who 
visited  them  were  so  quiet  and  obedient,  that  they  gave 
them  no  disturbance.  Besides  employing  themselves  in 
fishing,  the  Brethren  contrived  to  build  boats  and  other 
small  vessels  for  the  natives,  both  in  order  to  be  of  service 
to  them,  and  to  earn  something  for  their  own  subsistence^. 

In  1774,  Jens  Haven  received  a  commission  to  go  with 
three  others  of  the  Brethren,  and  explore  the  coast  to  the 
northward  of  Nain.  This  expedition,  however,  was  attend- 
ed wiih  disasters,  of  which  we  have  happily  few  examples 
in  the  history  of  missions.  On  their  return,  the  vessel  was 
wrecked,  tv/o  of  the  Brethren  were  drowned,  and  though 
Haven  and  another  of  the  missionaries  escaped,  it  was  by 
an  interposition  of  Providence  little  less  than  miraculous. § 

In  1776,  the  Brethren,  after  purchasing  the  land  from  the 
Esquimaux,  established  a  new  settlement  about  a  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  to  the  northward,  which  they  called 
Okkak.  Having  erected  a  habitation  for  themselves  in  that 
place,  they  proceeded  to  make  known  the  gospel  among  the 
savages  in  the  neighbourhood;  and  though  for  several  years 
their  labours  were  attended  with  many  difficulties  and  vicissi- 

•  Pc  tlod.  Agc.  vol,  ii.  p.  108.         f  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  109. 
\  Spangenberg-'s  Ascoiint  of  the  manner  in  which  the  United  Brctlipen  carr\  on 
tkeii'  Missions  among'  the  fieathen,  p.  83. 

Period.  Accounts,  vol,  ii.  p.  110 


by  the  United  Brethren.  51 

tudes,  yet  some  of  the  Esquimaux  appeared  to  feel  the  power 
of  the  truth  on  their  heart,  and  to  manifest  its  influence  in 
their  life.* 

In  March  178?,  the  Brethren  in  Labrador  experienced  a 
most  gracious  interposition  of  Providence  in  behalf  of  two 
of  their  number,  when  in  circumstances  of  the  most  imminent 
danger.  The  particulars  are  so  remarkable,  we  shall  give  a 
detail  of  them  at  full  length.  Samuel  Liebisch,  one  of  the 
missionaries  at  Nain,  being  at  that  time  entrusted  with  the 
general  superintendence  of  the  Brethren's  settlements  in 
Labrador,  the  duties  of  his  office  required  him  to  pay  a  visit 
to  Okkak,  accompanied  by  William  Turner,  another  of  the 
missionaries.  They  setoff  on  their  journey  early  in  the  morn- 
ing in  a  sledge  driven  by  one  of  the  baptized  Esquimaux, 
and  were  joined  by  another  sledge  of  Esquimaux,  the  whole 
company  consisting  of  five  men,  one  woman,  and  a  child. f 
All  were  in  good  spirits;  and  as  the  weather  was  clear,  and 
the  track  over  the  frozen  sea  in  the  best  order,  they  travelled 

•  Periodical  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  110. 

t  In  Labrador,  a  sledge  is  drawn  by  a  species  of  dogs,  somewhat 
similar  to  a  wolf  in  shape;  and,  like  that  animal,  they  never  bark,  but 
howl  disagreeably.  They  are  kept  by  the  Esquimaux  in  greater  or 
smaller  packs,  according  to  the  wealth  of  the  proprietor.  They  quietly 
submit  to  be  harnessed  for  their  work,  and  are  treated  with  no  great 
mercy  by  the  savages,  who  make  them  do  hard  duty,  and  at  the  same 
time  allow  them  little  food.  This  consists  chiefly  of  offals,  old  skins, 
rotten  whale  fins,  entrails,  Sec:  or  should  their  master  not  be  provided 
with  these,  or  similar  articles,  he  leaves  them  to  go  and  seek  dead  fish 
or  muscles  on  the  beach.  When  pinched  with  hunger,  they  will  eat 
almost  any  thing;  and  on  a  journey,  it  is  necessary  to  secure  the  harness 
during  the  night,  lest  by  devouring  it  they  should  render  it  impossible 
to  proceed  in  the  morning.  In  tlie  evening,  after  behig  unharnessed, 
they  are  left  to  burrow  in  the  snow  wherever  they  please;  and  in  the 
morning  they  are  sure  to  return  at  the  call  of  the  driver,  as  they  then 
receive  some  food.  In  fastening  them  in  the  harness,  they  are  not  al- 
lowed to  go  abreast,  but  are  tied  by  separate  thongs  of  unequal  length, 
to  an  horizontal  bar  on  the  forepart  of  the  sledge:  An  old  knowing  one 
leads  the  way,  running  ten  or  twenty  paces  before  the  rest,  directed  by 
the  driver's  wliip,  which  is  very  long,  and  can  be  properly  managed  only 
by  an  Esquimaux.  The  others  follow  like  a  flock  of  sheep.  If  one  of 
them  receive  a  lash,  he  generally  bites  his  neighbour,  and  the  bite  then 
goes  round.  Their  strength  and  speed,  even  with  a  hungry  stomach, 
are  truly  aslonisliiiig. — !\  ilod.  Accounts,  vol.  iii.  p.  ?26. 


52  Propagation  oj'  Christianity 

with  ease  at  the  rate  of  six  or  seven  miles  an  hour,  so  that, 
they  hoped  to  reach  Okkak  in  the  course  of  two  or  three 
days.  After  passing  the  islands  in  the  bay  of  Nain,  they 
kept  at  a  considerable  distance  from  the  shore,  both  to  gain 
the  smoothest  part  of  the  ice,  and  to  avoid  the  high  rocky 
promontory  of  Kiglapeit.  About  eight  o'clock  they  met  a 
sledge  with  Esquimaux  turning  in  from  the  sea;  and  after 
the  usual  salutations,  the  strangers,  in  the  course  of  conversa- 
tion, threw  out  some  hints,  that  it  might  be  as  well  for  them 
to  return.  As  the  missionaries,  however,  saw  no  cause  of 
alarm,  and  suspected  that  the  travellers  merely  wished  to 
enjoy  the  company  of  their  friends  a  little  longer,  they  pro- 
ceeded on  their  journey.  After  some  time,  their  own  Esqui- 
maux hinted  that  there  was  a  ground- swell  under  the  ice. 
It  was  then  scarcely  perceptible,  except  on  lying  down  and 
applying  die  ear  close  to  the  ice,  when  a  hollow  disagreeable 
grating  noise  was  heard,  as  if  ascending  from  the  abyss.  The 
sky,  however,  was  still  clear,  except  towards  the  east,  where 
a  bank  of  light  clouds  appeared,  interspersed  with  some 
dark  streaks;  but  as  the  wind  blew  strong  from  the  north- 
west, nothing  was  less  expected  than  a  sudden  change  of 
weather.* 

The  Brethren  continued  to  pursue  their  journey  till  the 
sun  had  reached  its  height  in  the  horizon,  and  as  yet  there 
was  little  or  no  alteration  in  the  aspect  of  the  sky.  But  as 
the  motion  of  the  sea  under  the  ice  had  grown  more  per- 
ceptible, they  became  rather  alarmed,  and  began  to  think  it 
prudent  to  keep  close  to  the  shore.  The  ice  also  had  cracks 
and  large  fissures  in  many  places,  some  of  which  formed 
chasms  of  one  or  two  feet  wide;  but  as  they  are  not  uncom- 
mon, even  in  its  best  state,  and  the  dogs  easily  leap  over 
them,  they  are  frightful  only  to  strangers. f 

But  as  soon  as  the  sun  declined  towards  the  west,  the  wind 
increased  to  a  storm,  the  bank  of  light  clouds  from  the  east 
began  to  ascend,  and  the  dark  streaks  to  put  themselves  ia 

•  Periodical  Accounts,  vol.  iii.  p.  226.  f  Ibid,  vol,  iii  p.  228. 


hy  the  United  Brethren.  53 

motion  against  the  wind.  The  snow  was  violently  driven 
about  by  partial  whirlwinds,  both  on  the  ice  and  from  oft' the 
peaks  of  the  neighbouring  mountains.  The  ground-swell 
liad  now  increased  so  much,  that  its  effects  on  the  ice  were 
very  extroardinary,  as  well  as  alarming.  The  sledges,  in- 
stead of  gliding  smoothly  along  as  on  an  even  surface,  some- 
times ran  with  violence  after  the  dogs,  and  sometimes  seemed 
with  difficulty  to  ascend  a  rising  hiil;  for  though  the  ice  was 
many  leagues  square,  and  in  some  places  three  or  four  yards 
thick,  yet,  the  swell  of  the  sea  underneath  gave  it  an  undu- 
latory  motion,  not  unlike  that  of  a  sheet  of  paper  accommo- 
dating itself  to  the  surface  of  a  rippling  stream.  Noises,  too 
were  now  distinctly  heard  in  many  directions,  like  the  re- 
port of  cannon,  owing  to  the  bursting  of  the  ice  at  a  dis- 
tance. "^ 

Alarmed  by  these  frightful  phenomena,  our  travellers 
drove  with  all  haste  towards  the  shore;  but  as  they  approach- 
ed it,  the  prospect  before  them  was  awfully  tremendous. 
The  ice,  having  burst  loose  from  the  rocks,  was  tossed  to 
and  fro,  and  broken  in  a  thousand  pieces  against  the  preci- 
pices with  a  dreadful  noise,  which,  added  to  the  raging  of 
the  sea,  the  roaring  of  the  wind,  and  driving  of  the  snow,  so 
completely  overpowed  them,  as  almost  to  deprive  them  of 
the  use  both  of  their  eyes  and  ears.  To  make  the  land  was 
now  the  only  resource  that  remained;  but  it  was  with  the 
utmost  diiliculty  the  frightened  dogs  could  be  driven  for- 
ward; and  as  the  whole  body  of  ice  frequently  sunk  below 
the  surfaee  of  the  rocks,  and  then  rose  above  it,  the  only 
time  for  landing  was  the  moment  it  gained  the  level  of  the 
coast;  a  circumstance  which  rendered  the  attempt  extremely 
nice  and  hazardous.  Through  the  kindness  of  Providence, 
however,  it  succeeded.  Both  sledges  gained  the  shore,  and 
were  drawn  up  on  the  beach,  though  not  without  great  didi- 
culty.f 

Scarcely  had  they  reached  the  shore,  when  that  part  of 

*  PLTiod.  Accounts,  vol.  iu.  p.  228.  \  Ibitl.  vol.  iii.  p.  22S. 


54  Fropagation  of  Christiamtt/ 

the  ice  from  which  they  had  just  escaped  burst  asunder,  and 
the  water  rushing  up  from  beneath,  instantly  precipitated  it 
into  the  ocean.  In  a  moment,  as  if  by  a  signal,  the  whole 
mass  of  ice,  for  several  miles  along  the  coast,  and  extending 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  began  to  break  and  to  be  over- 
whelmed with  the  waves.  The  spectacle  was  tremendous 
and  awfully  grand.  The  immense  fields  of  ice  rising  out  of 
the  ocean,  clashing  against  each  other,  and  then  plunging  into 
the  deep  with  a  violence  which  no  language  can  describe, 
and  a  noise  like  the  discharge  of  a  thousand  cannon,  was  a 
sight  which  must  have  struck  the  most  unreflecting  mind 
with  solemn  awe.  The  Brethren  were  overwhelmed  with 
amazement  at  their  miraculous  escape;  and  even  the  Pagan 
Esquimaux  expressed  gratitude  to  God  on  account  of  their 
deliverance.  *' 

The  Esquimaux  now  began  to  build  a  snow-house  about 
thirty  paces  from  the  beach;  and  about  nine  o'clock  at  night 
all  of  them  crept  into  it,  thankful  for  such  a  place  of  refuge, 
wretched  as  it  was.  Before  entering  it,  they  once  more 
turned  their  eyes  to  the  sea,  and  beheld  with  horror  mingled 
with  gratitude,  the  enormous  waves  driving  furiously  before 
the  wind,  like  so  many  huge  castles,  and  approaching  the 
shore,  where,  with  tremendous  noise,  they  dashed  against 
the  rocks,  foaming  and  filling  the  air  with  the  spray.  The 
whole  company  now  took  sup])er,  and  after  singing  a  hymn, 
they  lay  down  to  rest  about  ten  o'clock.  The  Esquimaux 
were  soon  fast  asleep;  but  Liebisch,  the  missionary,  could 
get  no  rest,  partly  on  account  of  the  dreadful  roaring  of  the 
storm,  and  partly  on  account  of  a  sore  throat,  which  occa- 
sioned him  severe  pain.  Both  the  Brethren,  indeed,  were 
much  engaged  in  thinking  of  their  late  miraculous  delive- 
mnce;  and  they  mingled  w-ith  their  thanksgivings,  prayer  for 
still  further  relief  f 

The  wakefulness  of  the  missionaries  proved  the  delive- 
rance of  the  whole  party  from  destruction.     About  two 

•  Periodical  Accounts,  vol.  :ii.  p.  229.  f  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  230. 


by  the  United  Brethren,  55 

o'clock  in  the  morning,  Liebisch  perceived  some  drops  of 
salt  water  fall  from  the  roof  of  the  snow-house  on  his  lips. 
Though  rather  alarmed  on  tasting  it,  he  lay  quiet  till  the 
dropping  became  more  frequent,  and  then,  just  as  he  was 
about  to  give  the  alarm,  a  tremendous  surf,  all  of  a  sudden, 
broke  close  to  the  house,  and  discharged  a  quantity  of  water 
into  it;  a  second  quickly  followed,  and  carried  away  the  slab 
of  snow  which  was  placed  as  a  door  before  the  entrance. 
The  Brethren  immediately  cried  to  the  Esquimaux  to  rise 
and  quit  the  place.  Alarmed  at  the  call,  they  jumped  up 
in  an  instant:  One  of  them  with  a  large  knife  cut  a  passage 
through  the  side  of  the  house,  and  each  seizing  some  part  of 
the  baggage,  threw  it  out  on  a  higher  part  of  the  beach. 
They  all  immediately  retreated  to  a  neighbouring  eminence; 
but  scarcely  had  they  reached  it,  when  an  enormous  wave 
carried  away  the  whole  of  the  house.* 

Thus  they  were  a  second  time  delivered  from  the  immi- 
nent danger  of  destruction;  but  yet  they  suffered  great  dis- 
tress during  the  remaining  part  of  the  night,  as  it  was  scarce- 
ly possible  to  stand  against  the  wind,  the  sleet,  and  the 
snow.  Before  the  dawn  of  day,  the  Ksquimaux  cut  a  hole 
in  the  snow  to  screen  the  two  missionaries,  the  Vvoman  and 
the  child.  Liebisch,  however,  could  not  bear  the  closeness 
of  the  air,  and  was  obliged  to  sit  at  the  entrance,  where  they 
covered  him  with  skins  to  keep  him  warm,  as  the  pain  of  his 
throat  was  extremely  severe.  As  soon  as  it  was  light,  the} 
built  another  snow -house,  about  eight  feet  square,  and  six 
or  seven  feet  high;  yet  still  their  situation  was  by  no  means 
comfortable. f 

The  Brethren  had  no  more  provisions  with  them  than 
what  was  deemed  sufficient  to  carry  them  to  Okkak,  and  the 
Esquimaux  had  nothing  at  all.  It  was  therefore  necessary  to 
divide  their  little  stock  into  daily  portions,  especially  as  there 
appeared  no  prospect  of  their  being  soon  able  to  quit  this 
dreary  place,  and  to  reach  the  dwellings  of  man.     There 

*  Periodical  Accounts,  vol.  iii.  p.  23l.  \  Ibid.  vol.  lii.  p.  231. 


5.6  Propagation  of  Christianity 

were  only  two  ways  in  which  this  could  be  effected;  either 
to  attempt  the  passage  across  the  wild  unfrequented  moun- 
tain Kiglapeit,  or  to  wait  for  a  new  ice-tract  over  the  sea, 
and  when  that  might  form  it  was  impossible  to  say.  They, 
therefore,  resolved  to  serve  out  no  more  than  a  biscuit  and 
a  half  daily  to  each  individual;  and  though  their  allowance 
was  so  small;  they  were  all  preserved  in  good  health. 
Leibisch  very  unexpectedly  recovered,  on  the  first  day, 
from  his  sore  throat,  owing  probably  to  the  low  diet  on 
which  he  wiis  obliged  to  subsist.  * 

Meanwhile,  the  Brethren  at  Nain,  and  especially  the 
wives  of  the  two  missionaries,  were  thrown  into  a  state  of 
the  utmost  anxiety  and  alarm,  on  account  of  our  travellers. 
During  the  storm,  they  had  felt  considerable  apprehension 
for  their  safety,  though  it  was  by  no  means  so  violent  in 
that  quarter,  as  the  coast  is  there  protected  by  islands. 
The  Esquimaux,  however,  who  had  met  them,  and  had 
warned  them  of  the  ground-swell,  in  their  obscure  am- 
biguous manner,  now  threw  out  hints  of  their  inevitable 
destruction.  One  of  them,  to  whom  either  Liebisch  or 
Turner  was  indebted  for  some  article  of  dress,  came  to 
the  wdfe  of  the  missionary,  and  said  he  should  be  glad 
of  payment  for  the  work:  "Wait  a  little,"  answered  she 
"when  my  husband  returns  he  will  settle  with  jou,  fori 
am  unacquainted  with  the  bargain  between  you."  "  Samuel 
and  William,"!  replied  the  Esquimaux,  "  will  return  no 
more  to  Nain."  "How,  not  return!  What  makes  you  say 
so?'*  After  some  pause,  he  replied  in  a  low  tone  of  voice: 
"  Samuel  and  William  are  no  more!  All  their  bones  are 
broken,  and  in  the  stomachs  of  the  sharks."  So  certain  was 
he  of  their  destruction,  that  it  was  with  diiiiculty  he  was 
prevailed  on  to  wait  their  return:    He  could  not  believe   it 

•  Period.  Accounts,  vol,  iii.  p.  232. 

t  The  names  by  which  the  two  missionaries  were  known  by  the 
Ksquimaux. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  S^ 

possible  that  they  could  have  escaped  the  storm,  consider- 
ing the  ^course  they  were  pursuing.* 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  two  Brethren  were  in  no  small 
distress  hov/  they  should  escape  from  their  present  dreary 
situation.  The  weather  had  now  cleared,  and  the  sea,  as 
far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  was  so  completely  free  of  ice, 
that  not  a  morsel  was  to  be  seen.  One  of  the  Pagan  Esqui- 
maux, who  was  a  sorcerer,  suggested  that  it  would  be  well 
to  "try  to  make  good  weather;'*  but  this  was,  of  course, 
opposed  by  the  missionaries,  who  told  him  that  such  Hea- 
thenish arts  were  of  no  avail.  They  were  now,  indeed,  in 
such  straits  for  provisions,  that  the  Esquimaux  one  day  ate 
an  old  sack  made  of  fish  skin;  and  the  next  they  began  to 
devour  a  filthy  worn-out  skin,  which  had  served  them  for  a 
mattress.  Their  spirits  too  began  to  sink;  but  they  possess 
this  convenient  quality,  that  they  can  go  to  rest  whenever 
they  please,  and  if  necessary,  can  sleep  for  days  and  nights 
together.  Besides,  as  the  temperature  of  the  air  was  rather 
mild,  this  was  a  new  source  of  uneasiness  to  them,  the  roof 
of  the  snow-house  was  melted  by  the  warm  exhalations  of 
the  inhabitants;  and  as  this  occasioned  a  continual  dropping, 
every  thing,  by  degrees,  was  so  soaked  with  water,  that 
there  was  not  a  dry  thread  about  them,  nor  a  dry  place  in 
which  to  lie.f 

Meanwhile,  however,  the  sea  had  begun  to  freeze;  and,  in 
a  short  time,  it  acquired  a  considerable  degree  of  solidity. 
The  Esquimaux  belonging  to  the  other  sledge  now  resolved 
to  pursue  their  journey  to  Okkak;  while  the  Brethren,  after 
remaining  six  days  in  this  miserable  place,  set  off  to  return 
to  Nain.  Their  Esquimaux  driver  ran  all  the  way  round  the 
promontary  of  Kiglapeit,  before  the  sledge,  to  find  a  good 
track;  and  after  travelling  about  three  hours,  they  reached 
the  bay,  and  so  were  out  of  danger.  Here  they  made  a  meal 
of  the  remainder  of  their  provisions;  and  then  proceeded  on 
their  journey  without  again  stopping  till  about  twelve  o'clock 

•  Period.  Accounts,  vol-,  iii.  p.  236.  f  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  2')3. 

VOL.  II..  II 


58  Propagation  of  Christianity 

at  night,  when  they  reached  Nain  to  the  great  joy  of  the 
whole  settlement,  and  particularly  of  their  own  families.* 

Soon  after  this  remarkable  event,  a  third  settlement  was 
begun  by  the  Brethren  af  a  place  which  they  called  Hope- 
dale,  to  the  south  of  Nain,  with  the  view  of  making  known 
the  gospel  among  the  Esquimaux  in  that  part  of  the  country, 
who  seemed  anxious  to  have  missionaries  resident  among 
them;  but  the  expectations  of  success,  to  which  this  naturally 
gave  rise,  were  by  na  means  realized,  at  least  for  the  present 
For  some  years  after  the  establishment  of  this  settlement, 
a  number  of  the  baptized,  particularly  from  this  quarter. 
\vere  seduced  to  the  south,  ^vhere  they  purchased  fire-arms, 
associated  ^v■ith  the  Heathen,  and  plunged  themselves  not 
only  into  spiritual  but  into  temporal  ruin.  To  encourage 
these  migrations,  some  of  their  countrymen  spread  the  most 
favourable  reports  of  the  goodness  and  cheapness  of  Euro- 
pean goods  in  that  part  of  the  country;  and  though  their  ac- 
coujits  were  at  variance  with  each  other,  yet  the  temptations 
were  too  strong  to  be  resisted  by  a  poor  roving  Esquimaux. 
This  circumstance  materially  impeded  the  progress  of  the 
mission,  and  corrupted  the  minds  even  of  those  who  were 
better  disposed,  numbers  of  whom  were  seduced  to  join  in 
some  of  the  Heathenish  practises  of  their  countrymen,  and 
to  rove  at  a  distance  among  them.  Many  of  these  wandering 
sheep  indeed  returned;  but  others  perished,  in  the  south, 
of  hunger,  a  circumstance  which,  at  length,  had  a  consider- 
able efil'ct  in  checking  their  migrations. | 

Even  afterwards,  however,  when  the  course  of  the  con- 
gregations became  of  a  more  pleasing  nature,  some  of  the 
baptized,  when  seized  with  sickness,  were  apt  to  seek  relief 
in  the  old  superstitious  practices  of  the  sorcerers,  if  the  re- 
medies administered  by  the  missionaries  had  not  immediate 
effect;  for  when  an  Esquimaux  is  taken  ill,  he  is  not  satisfied 
unless  he  is  cured  instantaneously.  But  though  the  dread 
of  dea:h  is  deeply  rivetted  m  the  breast  of  these  poor  peo-» 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iil.  p.  S.^J.     t  Jb'<^«  ^'oI>  iv.  p.  106.;  vol,  L  p.  SQ,  8c<^. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  59 

pie,  and  manifested  itself  strongly  in  the  beginning  of  their 
illness;  yet  as  their  dissolution  approached,  it  was  often 
pleasing  to  see  them  so  resigned  to  the  will  of  God  and  so 
willing  to  die."* 

Among  the  Esquimaux  whom  the  Brethren  received  into 
fellowship  with  them,   was  a  man  named  Tuglawina,   who 
had  been  baptized  some  years  before  by  a  Presbyterian  in 
Chateau  Bay,  during  a  dangerous  illness.     He  was  a  person 
of  great  note  among  his  countrymen,  and  acquired  an  asto. 
nishing  ascendency  over  them,  not  only  by  his  activity,  dex- 
terity, and  success  in  hunting,  his  courage,  strength,  and 
hardiness,  (the  most  essenti^il  qualities  of  a  great  man  among 
the  Esquimaux),  but  by  a  vigour  of  mind,  a  soundness  of 
intellect,  and  a  quickness  of  apprehension  far  superior  to 
most  of  his  nation.    As  he  was  also  a  sorcerer,  they  believed 
him  to  possess  extraordinary  supernatural  powers,  bestowed 
on  him  by  the  Torngak,  or  familiar  spirit,  which  he  pretend- 
ed to  consult  on  all  occasions;  and  such  was  the  credulity 
of  the  poor  deluded   creatures,  that  if  he  declared,  on  the 
word  of  his  Torngak,  that  such  a  person  ought  not  to  live, 
they  often  instantly  murdered  the  unfortunate  object  of  his 
vengeance.     Thus  he  was  not  only  guilty  of  the  murder  of 
several  persons  by  his  own  hands,  but  he  was  accessary  to 
the  death  of  many  more,  through  the  influence  he  possessed 
over  others.     The  Brethren  would   certainly  have  fallen   a 
sacrifice   to  his  artifice  and  barbarity,  had   Providence  per- 
mitted him  to  disapprove  of  their  settlement  in  the  country; 
but  though  he  was  a  tyrant  among  his  own   countrymen,  a 
disturber  of  the  peace  of  the  mission,  and  a  seducer  of  the 
converts,  he  was  the  friend  of  the  missionaries,  and  always 
professed  to  respect  and  even  to  love  them.     When  re- 
proved by  them  for  his  wicked  deeds,  he  acknowledged  that 
he  was  a  vile  sinner,  frequently  shed  tears,  and  even  trem- 
bled in   their  presence;  but  still  he  apologized  for  himself, 
staying,  that  the  devil  forced  him  to  sin,  and  that  it  was  not 

*  Ferigd.  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  130.  134 


6(s>  Propagation  of  Christianity 

in  his  power  to  help  it.  By  degrees,  however,  he  became 
attentive  to  the  gospel,  and  at  length  gave  such  proofs  of 
his  sincere  conversion,  that  the  Brethren,  after  the  usual 
time  of  trial  as  an  inhabitant  of  the  settlement,  received  him 
into  Christian  fellowship  with  them.  Afterwards,  indeed, 
he  was  guilty  of  some  deviations  from  the  path  of  duty;  but 
yet,  on  the  whole,  he  afforded  them  much  satisfaction,  by 
his  pious  regular  deportment,  and  he  at  last  left  the  Avorld 
in  peace.* 

In  December  1800,  an  event  occurred  which  occasioned 
the  Brethren  the  deepest  and  most  pungent  grief.  One  of 
the  missionaries  at  Hopedale,  named  Reiman,  who  had  gone- 
out  to  procure  some  fresh  provisions  by  shooting,  never  re- 
turned, nor  was  heard  of  more.  In  the  evening,  his  Brethren 
became  much  alarmed  for  his  safety,  particularly  as  the 
whole  country  was  covered  with  ice,  rain  having  fallen  the 
day  before  upon  the  snow;  and  about  seven  o'clock,  they 
sent  out  four  of  the  Esquimaux,  with  muskets,  to  seek  him, 
and  to  direct  him  towards  them  by  the  fire  of  their  guns; 
but  these  returned  about  break  of  day,  without  having  seen 
or  heard  any  thing  of  him.,  As  soon,  therefore,  as  it  was 
light,  the  whole  of  the  Brethren,  together  with  all  the  Esqui- 
maux, set  off  to  renew  the  search.  In  several  places,  they 
discovered  his  footsteps  in  the  snow,  but  these  were  soon 
lost  on  the  ice;  and  though  they  persevered  in  the  enquiry 
for  nine  days  successively,  examining  every  place  they  could 
think  of  with  the  utmost  anxiety  and  care,  yet  it  was  with- 
out success.  In  April  following,  they  renewed  the  search, 
in  order,  if  possible,  to  discover  his  remains;  but  this  at- 
tempt  also  was  of  no  avail.  It  was  therefore  impossible  to 
determine  in  what  manner  he  had  perished,  though  of  his 
death  no  doubt  could  remain. f 

In  1803,  a  considerable  awakening  began  among  the  Es- 
quimaux at  Hopedale,  and  spread  from  thence  to  the  other 
two  settlements,  Okkak  and  Nain.     Many  who  hitherto  had 

*  Period.  Account?,  vol.  i.  p.  354;  vol.  ii.  p.  60,  232,  328,  435.     Ibid,  vol.  iii  p.  8. 


by  the  United  Brethren, 


61 


been  perfectly  careless  and  indifferent  about  their  souls,  now 
became  concerned  for  their  salvation;  and  even  among  the 
baptized  there  appeared  more  of  the  power  and  influence 
of  vital  religion.  This  has  continued  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree,  ever  since  that  period;  and  within  a  fe^v  years  past, 
the  congregations  have  been  materially  augmented.  In 
1788,  the  whole  number  of  the  baptized,  from  the  com- 
mencement of  the  mission,  amounted  only  to  a  hundred  and 
four,  and  of  these,  there  were  sixty. three  then  living;  but 
according  to  the  last  accounts,  the  number  of  the  baptized 
is  now  little  short  of  three  hundred,  and  there  has,  at  the 
^ame  time,  been  a  great  increase  of  inhabitants  in  each  of 
die  settlements.  The  following  Table  exhibits  a  view  of  their 
numbers  in  the  year  1812: 


BAPTIZED,  AND    CANDI- 
DATES FOR   BAPTISM. 

COMMUNICANTS. 

INHABITANTS. 

Nain 

Okkak 

Hopedale 

88 

116 

88 

25 
31 

150 
233 

122* 

Besides  a  Spelling  Book,  and  Catechism  or  Summary  of 
Christian  Doctrine,  and  a  Hymn  Book,  the  Brediren  have 
published  a  Harmony  of  the  Four  Gospels  in  the  Esquimaux 
language.! 

Of  late  they  have  undertaken  a  translation  of  the  Avhok 
New  Testament;  and  that  noble  institution  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society  have  engaged  to  be  at  the  expense  of 
publishing  it.  The  Gospel  according  to  John  was  printed 
about  three  years  ago,  and  the  other  three  Gospels  have  just 
issued  from  the  press.  When  the  former  was  distributed 
among  the  converts,  they  expressed  their  sense  of  its  value 
in  the  most  affecting  manner.  Some  burst  into  a  flood  of 
tears;  some  pressed  the  little  book  to  their  bosom,  and 
looked  as  happy  as  if  they  enjoyed  a  foretaste  of  heavcp: 

'  Periodical  Account.';,  vol.  iv,  p.  107;  vol.  i.  p.  16;  vol.  v.  p.  253,  255,  261 
t  l'l'<l'  vol.  V.  p.  23. 


62  Propagation  of  Christianity 

and  some  again  expressed  the  gratitude  of  their  hearts  in 
letters  which  they  addressed  to  the  missionaries.  They  now 
take  it  with  them  when  they  go  out  in  search  of  provisions; 
and  they  spend  their  evenings  in  their  tents  or  snow-houses, 
reading  it  with  great  delight.* 

As  there  is  no  regular  communication  between  England 
and  Labrador,  a  small  vessel  is  employed  by  the  Brethren 
to  convey  the  necessaries  of  life  to  the  missionaries  once  a 
year;  and  it  is  a  circumstance  not  unworthy  of  notice,  that 
since  the  commencement  of  the  mission,  a  period  of  upwards 
of  forty  years,  no  interruption  has  ever  taken  place  in  their 
annual  communications  with  them;  and  except  once,  by 
capture,  on  her  return  home,  no  serious  accident  has  be- 
fallen the  vessel,  though  on  account  of  the  ice  and  the  many 
sunken  rocks,  the  navigation  between  the  settlements  is  of 
the  most  difficult  and  dangerous  nature.  This  vessel  returns 
home  with  skins,  bone,  and  oil;  the  sale  of  which,  of  late 
years,  has  nearly  covered  the  expense  of  the  voyage.  In 
each  settlement,  one  of  the  Brethren  is  appointed  to  receive 
such  goods  as  the  Esquimaux  may  bring  in  barter  for  such 
articles  as  are  useful  to  them,  but  the  missionaries  never  go 
out  to  trade  with  them,  as  this  would  interfere  too  much 
with  the  chief  object  of  their  settlement  in  the  country.f 


SECTION  IX. 

NicoBAR    Islands. I 

IN  1756,  a  commercial  establishment  was  begun  by  the 
Danes  from  Tranquebar  on  the  Nicobar  Islands,  which  are 

"  Report  of  the  British  and  For.  Bib.  Soc,  1810,  p.  12.     Ibid.  1812,  Appendix, 
p.  41.     Ibid.  1813,  Appendix,  p.  32,  99.     Period.  Accounts,  vol.  v.  p.  49, 
t  reriodical  Accounts,  vol.  iii.  p.  527';  vol.  v.  p.  18,  26. 

I  These  are  a  number  of  small  islands  which  lie  at  the  entrance  of 
the  Bay  of  Bengal,  between  lat.  7°  and  9°  N.  and  long.  gS**  and  95°  E- 
and  are  inhabited  by  an  inoffensive  people. 


hy  the  United  Brethren.  63 

situated  in  the  Bay  of  Bengal  to  the  north  of  Sumatra,  and 
it  was  intimated  to  the  Brethren  by  a  person  of  high  rank  at 
the  court  of  Denmark,  that  it  would  give  his  majesty  parti- 
cular pleasure  if  some  of  them  would  settle  as  missionaries 
in  that  quarter  of  the  world,  and  endeavour  to  convert  the 
inhabitants  to  the  Christian  faith.  To  this  proposal  they 
readily  consented;  and  though  in  the  meanwhile  intelligence 
was  received  that  the  attempt  to  establish  a  settlement  on  these 
islands  had  miscarried,  and  that  almost  all  the  colonists  had 
died,  yet  they  were  not  discouraged  by  these  disastrous  cir- 
cumstances. It  was  judged  proper,  however,  that  they  should 
have  a  settlement  at  Tranquebar,  on  the  Coromandel  coast, 
in  order  to  carry  on  the  mission  in  the  Nicobar  Islands  from 
that  quarter,  as  it  did  not  appear  adviseable  to  establish  a 
colony  in  so  wild  and  distant  a  region,  immediately  from 
Europe.  To  this  plan  the  Danish  government  readily  gave 
their  consent.* 

In  1759,  George  J.  Stahlman,  Adam  Gotlieb  Voelcker,, 
and  Christopher  Butler,  accompanied  by  eleven  other  single 
Brethren,  sailed  from  Europe,  and  after  a  voyage  of  eight 
months,  arrived  at  Tranquebar,  where  they  were  received 
by  the  governor  and  the  other  inhabitants  with  much  cor- 
diality. Having  purchased  a  piece  of  ground  about  a  mile 
from  the  town,  they  built  themselves  a  house,  together 
with  some  work-shops  and  out-houses,  v/rought  at  theii 
several  trades,  and  met  v^•ith  good  sale  for  the  articles  they 
made,  at  Tranquebar  and  the  neighbouring  Dutch  and 
English  settlements.  This  place  they  called  The  Brethren's 
Gar  den. \ 

For  several  years,  the  Brethren  had  no  opportunity  of 
making  any  attempt  to  introduce  Christianity  into  the  Nico- 
bar Islands,  as  they  were  obliged  to  wait  till  the  Danish  East 
India  Company  should  settle  a  colony  on  them.  An  invita- 
tion, indeed,  was  given  them  by  the  English  governor  of 
Bengal  to  come  and  reside  in  that  part  of  the  country;  but 

•  Crantz's  History  of  the  United  Brethren.        f  Ibid. 


64  Propagation  of  Christianity 

this  proposal  they  thought  proper  to  decline,  being  resolved 
to  wait  with  patience  for  an  opportunity  of  prosecuting  their 
original  plan.* 

In  \  768,  the  Danish  government,  after  many  delays,  form- 
ed a  new  establishment  on  the  Nicobar  Islands,  and  six  of 
the  Brethren  immediately  went  thither,  and  settled  on  one 
of  them  called  Nancauwery.  Several  officers  of  the  East 
India  Company  afterwards  arrived  from  Tranquebar,  with  a 
party  of  soldiers  and  black  servants,  and  brought  with  them 
a  considerable  quantity  of  merchandize.  But  they  died  so 
rapidly,  that  in  1771,  only  two  European  soldiers,  and  four 
Malabar  servants,  remained  alive.  This  second  failure  de- 
terred the  Company  from  renewing  the  attempt;  and  thus 
the  project  of  establishing  a  factory  in  the  Nicobar  Islands 
was  abandoned.  The  four  Brethren  who  still  resided  in  the 
settlement  were  entrusted  with  the  sale  of  such  goods  as  re- 
mained; a  commission  from  which  they  experienced  no  small 
inconvenience.! 

In  1773,  however,  a  vessel  was  sent  from  Tranquebar, 
which  relieved  them  from  this  burden,  by  taking  back  such 
articles  of  trade  as  still  remained  on  hand,  and  caiTying  them 
a  supply  of  provisions.  As  the  means  of  furnishing  the  mis- 
sionaries with  the  necessaries  of  life  from  that  place  were  now 
extremely  precarious  and  uncertain,  the  Brethren  resolved  to 
charter  a  vessel  annually  for  that  purpose.  In  executing  this 
plan,  Mr.  Holford,  an  English  gentleman  residing  at  Tran- 
quebar, rendered  them  the  most  essential  service.  He  joined 
ilieni  in  fitting  out  a  small  vessel,  which  sailed  for  Nancau- 
wery with  provisions,  and  returned  with  the  productions  of 
the  country,  but  the  sale  of  these  by  no  means  repaid  the 
expense  of  the  undertaking.  Mr.  Holford,  however,  was  not 
discouraged  by  the  want  of  success.  Another  vessel  was 
fitted  out  the  following  year,  but  having  missed  the  entrance 
into  the  Nicobar  Islands,  slie  was  obliged,  after  combating 

*  Cranti's  History  of  the  United  Brethren. 

f  Uaen^el's  Letters  on  the  Nicobar  Islands,  p.  9. 


by  the  United  Brethren*  65 

long  with  contrary  winds  and  currents,  to  cast  anchor  near 
Junckceylon,  where  she  landed  her  cargo.  A  third  vessel 
had  in  the  meanwhile  sailed  for  these  islands,  but  the  voyage 
was  attended  with*no  better  success.* 

In  1779,  John  Gottfried  Haensel,  and  another  of  the 
Brethren  named  Wangeman,  arrived  at  Nancauwery,  where 
there  were  then  three  other  missionaries,  Heyne,  Liebisch, 
and  Blaschke;  but  the  last  of  these  being  very  ill,  returned 
by  the  vessel  to  Tranquebar,  where  he  soon  after  died;  and 
it  was  not  long  before  both  Liebisch  and  Wangeman  followed 
him  to  the  grave.  Haensel  himself  was  so  ill  of  the  season- 
ing fever,  that  having  fallen  into  a  swoon,  he  was  supposed 
to  be  dead,  and  was  removed  from  his  bed,  and  already  laid 
out  as  a  corpse,  when  he  revived,  and  asked  his  attendants 
what  they  were  doing,  and  why  they  wept.  In  reply,  they 
told  him,  that  aj^prehending  him  to  be  dead,  they  were  pre- 
paring for  his  funeral.  His  recovery  was  extremely  slow;  and 
indeed,  during  the  whole  time  of  his  residence  in  Nancau- 
wery, he  never  perfectly  regained  his  health. f 

The  Brethren  were  as  diligent  as  their  wretched  circum- 
stances would  admit,  in  clearing  the  land  and  planting  it, 
in  order  to  procure  for  themselves  the  necessaries  of  life; 
and  indeed  they  frequently  laboured  beyond  their  strength, 
and  brought  on  themselves  various  dangerous  illnesses,  by 
their  excessive  exertions.  Besides  labouring  in  this  manner 
for  their  own  support,  they  endeavoured  to  lessen  the  ex- 
penses of  the  mission,  by  making  collections  of  shells,  ser- 
pents, and  other  natural  curiosities,  which  they  sent  to 
Tranquebar  for  sale,  as  there  was  at  that  time  a  great  de- 
mand for  productions  of  this  kind  in  England,  Holland, 
Denmark,  and  other  parts  of  Europe.  Mr.  Haensel  informs 
us,  that  whether  he  went  into  the  woods,  or  walked  along 
the  beach,  whether  he  travelled  by  land  or  by  water,  he  was 
accustomed  to  examine  every  object  he  saw,  and  acquired 
great  facility  in  catching  some  of  the  most  dangerous  crea- 

•  Haensel'b  Letters  on  the  Nicobar  Islands,  p.  \Q.  f  Ibid.  p.  14,  17, 

vot.  II,  I 


(36  Propagation  of  Christianity 

tures  without  injury  to  himself.  Far  from  being  afraid  of 
serpents,  he  went  out  purposely  to  discover  their  haunts,  in 
the  jungles  and  among  the  rocks;  and  if  lie  could  only  pre- 
vent them  from  slipping  off  into  their  holes,  and  irritate  them 
so  as  to  make  them  attempt  to  strike  him,  he  completely 
gained  his  end.  As  a  serpent  in  such  circumstances  bites 
wliatever  comes  first  in  its  way,  he  immediately  presented 
his  hat  to  it,  which  the  animal  violently  seized  with  its  fangs, 
then  instantly  snatching  it  away,  he  seldom  failed  to  extract 
them  by  the  sudden  jerkj  for  as  they  are  curved  they  cannot 
easily  be  withdrawn,  and  being  loose  in  the  gums  they  are 
readily  disengaged; — he  next  laid  hold  of  the  creature, 
which  was  now  in  a  great  degree  harmless,  pinned  down  its 
head,  and  tied  it  up.  It  is  necessary,  however,  to  be  ex- 
tremely careful  when  preparing  their  heads  and  refixing  the 
fangs,  that  you  are  not  lacerated  by  their  teeth,  or  injured  in 
any  other  way;  for  it  is  a  singular  fact,  that  a  wound  inflicted 
in  this  manner,  even  long  after  death,  produces  dreadful,  and 
often  fatal  consequences.*  | 

*   HaenseV's  Letters,  p.  20,  35, 40. 

t  At  (.he  Brethrcirs  Garden  near  Tranquebar,  IMr.  Haenscl,  after 
his  return  to  that  place,  Jiad  a  sliop  or  work-room  ior  the  purpose  oi' 
stuffing  these  and  other  animals,  preserving  them  in  spirits,  or  other- 
wise preparing  them  for  sale;  and  he  sometimes  employed  two  or  three 
Malabar  boys  to  assist  him  in  these  operations.  In  the  neighbourhood 
of  that  town,  there  is  a  short  serpent  which  they  call  the  split-snake:  it 
is  black,  with  a  white  streak  along  its  back  dividing  the  body  longitudi- 
nally; its  bite  is  extremely  venomous;  and,  as  it  is  a  very  slender  crea- 
ture, it  can  insinuate  itself  into  the  smallest  hole  or  cranny.  By  this 
means  it  often  enters  rooms  and  closets  in  quest  of  food,  of  which  Mr- 
Haensel  gives  us  the  following  interesting  example.  "  There  was  a 
door,"  says  he,  "  in  a  dark  part  of  my  work-room,  with  a  large  clumsy  lock 
upon  it.  One  evening  as  I  was  attempting  to  open  it,  I  suddenly  felt  a 
prick  in  my  finger,  and,  at  the  same  instant,  a  violent  electrical  shock, 
as  if  I  were  split  asunder.  Not  thinking  of  a  serpent,  I  at  first  imagined 
that  my  Malabar  boys  had  in  their  play  wound  some  wire  about  the 
handle,  and  that  it  was  by  this  I  was  hurt;  and  therefore  I  asked  them 
sharply  what  they  had  done  to  the  door.  They  denied,  however,  that  they 
had  meddled  with  it;  and  when  I  made  a  second  attempt  to  open  it,  I  was 
attacked  still  more  violently,  and  perceived  the  blood  trickling  down 
my  finger.  I  then  returned  into  my  room  and  sucked  the  wound  till  I 
cotild  draw  no  more  blood  from  it;  after  which  I  applied  to  it  some 


by  the  United  Brethren.  67 

Mr.  Haensel,  in  his  frequent  excursions  along  the  sea 
coast,  was  sometimes  benighted,  and  could  iK)t  conveniently 
return  to  the  mission-house;  but,  in  these  circumstances  he 
was  never  at  a  loss  for  a  bed.  The  greater  part  of  the  beach 
consists  of  a  remarkably  line  white  sand,  which,  above  high 
water  mark,  is  perfectly  clean  and  dry.  Into  this  he  easily 
dug  a  hole  large  enough  to  contain  his  body,  and  he  likewise 
formed  a  mound  as  a  pillow  for  his  head.  He  then  lay  down, 
and  by  collecting  the  sand  over  him,  buried  himself  in  it  up 
to  the  neck.  His  faithful  dog  always  lay  across  his  body, 
ready  to  give  the  alarm  in  case  of  the  smallest  danger  or  dis- 
turbance. He  was  under  no  apprehension,  however,  from 
wild  animals:  crocodiles  and  kaymans  never  haunted  the 
open  coast,  but  confined  themselves  to  creeks  and  lagoons; 
and  there  was  no  ravenous  beasts  on  the  island.  He  never 
suffered  any  annoyance,  imless  from  the  nocturnal  perambu- 
lations of  an  immense  variety  of  crabs,  the  grating  noise  of 
whose  armour  sometimes  kept  him  awake.  But  they  were 
well  watched  by  his  dog,  and  if  any  ventured  to  approach, 
they  were  sure  to  be  seized  by  him,  and  thrown  to  a  more 

spirits  of  turpentine,  and  tied  it  up  with  a  bandage:  but  being  much 
hurried  that  evening  with  other  business,  I  took  no  further  notice  of  it. 
In  the  night,  however,  it  swelled,  and  was  extremely  painful.  In  the 
morning,  when  I  went  into  the  work-room,  I  thought  I  feit  an  unpleasant 
musky  smell;  and  on  approaching  the  door  already  mentioned  thii 
stench  was  altogether  intolerable.  I  again  asked  the  boys  what  nasty 
stuff  they  had  brought  into  the  room,  for  they  were  always  playing 
themselves,  but  they  still  denied  that  they  knew  any  thing  about  the 
matter.  Having  procured  a  candle,  I  then  discovered  the  cause  of  all 
the  mischief:  about  six  inches  of  the  head  and  body  of  a  3^oung  split- 
snake  hung  out  of  the  key-hole,  perfectly  dead;  and  on  taking  off  the 
lock,  I  found  the  creature  twisted  into  it,  and  so  much  wounded  by  the 
turn  of  the  bolt,  from  my  attempt  to  open  the  door,  that  it  had  died  in 
consequence.  It  had  been  entering  the  room  through  the  kcy-holc, 
when  I  thus  accidentally  stopped  its  progress  and  was  bitten  by  it;  and 
Considering  the  deadly  nature  of  this  serpent's  poison,  I  felt  thankful  , 
to  God,  that,  though  ignorant  of  the  cause  of  the  Avound,  I  applied 
proper  remedies  to  it,  in  consequence  of  which  my  life  Avas  not  endan- 
gered. I  have  been  told  that  the  bite  of  every  serpent  is  accompanied, 
In  a  greater  or  less  degree,  by  a  sensation  similar  to  an  electrical  shock. 
The  name  of  split- snake,  which  is  given  to  this  animal,  we  considered 
as  descriptive,  not  so  much  of  its  split  appearance,  as  of  the  singular 
sensations  occasioned  by  its  bite." — Haennefs  Letters,  p.  40,  4  1. 


G8  Propagation  of  Christianity 

respectful  distance;  or  if  one  of  a  more  tremendous  size  de- 
terred the  dog  from  exposing  his  nose  to  its  claws,  he  would 
bark  and  frighten  it  away.  Our  missionary  had  many  a 
comfortable  sleep  in  these  sepulchral  dormitories,  though  in 
most  other  parts  of  the  East  it  would  be  extremely  hazar- 
dous for  a  person  to  expose  himself  in  this  manner,  on  ac- 
count of  the  number  of  wild  beasts  with  which  they 
abound.* 

Though  the  Brethren  had  little  or  nothing  to  dread  from 
wild  beasts  on  the  Nicobar  Islands,  yet,  in  their  visits  to 
other  places,  they  were  sometimes  in  danger  from  them.  On 
one  of  Mr.  Haensel's  voyages,  either  to  or  from  Queda,  a 
place  on  the  Malay  coast,  a  Danish  ship  hailed  the  vessel, 
and  approaching  incautiously,  ran  foul  of  the  stern,  and  broke 
the  flag-staff.  Having  put  into  a  creek,  some  of  the  sailors 
landed  near  a  wood  to  cut  down  a  tree  to  make  a  new  one. 
Mr.  Haensel  accompanied  them,  armed  with  a  double-bar- 
relled gun,  with  the  view  of  procuring  some  fresh  meat  for 
supper.  While  they  were  at  work,  he  walked  on  the  out- 
side of  the  wood,  eagerly  looking  for  some  game,  and  soon 
discovered  among  the  high  grass,  an  object,  which,  by  its 
motions,  he  mistook  for  the  back  of  a  hare.  He  imme- 
diately took  aim,  and  was  just  going  to  fire,  when  the  ani- 
mal rose  up  and  proved  to  be  a  tiger.  Overcome  with  hor- 
ror, his  arm  involuntarily  sunk  down;  he  stood  perfectly 
motionless,  expecting  that  the  creature  would  instantly 
spring  at  him,  and  tear  him  in  pieces.  Providentially,  how- 
ever, the  animal  seemed  as  much  alarmed  as  himself,  and  after 
staring  at  him  for  a  few  seconds,  turned  slowly  round,  and 
began  to  creep  away  like  a  frightened  cat,  with  his  belly 
close  to  the  ground;  then  gradually  quickening  his  pace, 
fled  with  precipitation  into  a  distant  part  of  the  wood.  It 
was  sometime  before  Mr.  Haensel  recovered  sufficient 
presence  of  mind  to  trace  back  his  steps  towards  the  beach, 
for  his  heart  still  trembled  within  him.     As  he  approached 

•  llaeiisel's  Letters,  p.  36. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  69 

the  shore,  there  was  a  piece  of  jungle  or  low  thicket  before 
him,  and  he  was  turning  to  the  left  to  pass  round  by  the 
side  opposite  the  boat,  hoping  he  might  yet  find  some  game, 
when  he  observed  the  sailors  labouring  hard  to  drag  the  tree 
they  had  felled  towards  the  water,  and  therefore  he  altered 
his  course  and  went  to  their  assistance.  No  sooner  had  he 
entered  the  boat,  than  he  discovered  on  that  side  of  the  jun- 
gle to  which  he  was  first  going,  a  lage  kayman,  watching 
their  motions,  and  which  he  would  certainly  have  met  had 
he  gone  by  the  way  he  originally  intended.  Thankful  as  he 
was  for  this  second  deliverance,  he  could  not  help  discharg- 
ing his  gun  at  the  animal's  head,  and  by  the  suuden  pluiige 
which  it  made  into  the  water,  and  the  appearance  of  blood 
on  the  surface  as  it  was  swimming  to  the  opposite  sliore, 
it  was  evident  that  the  creature  was  wounded.  He  saw 
it  reach  the  land,  and  crawl  through  the  mud  into  the  jun- 
gle.* t 

*  Haensel's  Letters,  p.  ST. 


t  All  the  Nicobar  Islands  which  have  fresh  water  lakes  and  streams, 
arc  overrun  with  the  crocodile  or  alligator.  There  are  two  species  oi 
Jhis  animal,  the  proper  crocodile  and  the  black  kayman.  The  former 
is  said  never  to  attack  living  creatures,  but  to  devour  only  carrion, 
and  therefore  it  is  not  considered  as  dangerous.  "'  Of  the  coiTcctness 
of  this  opinion,"  says  Mr.  Haensel,  "  I  had  once  ocular  proof.  I  was 
v/alking  at  Queda  along  the  coast,  and  looking  at  a  number  of  children 
swimming  and  playing  in  the  water.  On  a  sudden  I  observed  a  large 
crocodile  proceed  towards  them,  from  a  creek.  Terrified  at  the  idea 
of  their  danger,  I  screamed  out,  and  made  signs  to  some  Chinese  to 
run  to  their  assistance;  but  they  laughed  me  to  scorn  as  an  ignorant 
stranger.  I  afterwards  saw  the  monster  playing  about  among  the  chil- 
dren, while  the  young  creatures  diverted  themselves  by  pretending  to 
attack  him  and  drive  him  away. 

"  The  kayman  is  less  in  size  than  the  crocodile.  It  is  extremely 
tierce,  and  seizes  upon  every  creature  that  has  life;  but  it  cannot  lift 
any  thing  from  the  ground,  on  account  of  the  projection  of  the  lower 
jaw.  Part  of  the  flesh  of  this  animal  is  good  and  wholesome  when 
well  cooked.  It  tastes  somewhat  like  pork,  for  which  I  took  it,  and 
ate  it  with  much  relish,  when  I  first  came  to  Nancauwery;  till  finding, 
on  enquiry,  that  it  was  the  flesh  of  a  creature  so  disgusting  in  its  ap- 
pearance and  habits,  I  felt  a  loatliing  for  it  which  I  could  never  over- 
come, but  it  is  eaten  both  by  the  natives  and  Europeans."  Haensel's 
Letters,  p.  31,  39. 


70  Propagation  of  Christianity 

After  the  officers  and  soldiers  who  had  accompanied  the 
Brethren  to  the  Nicobar  Islands  were  all  dead,  and  it  was 
known  that  the  missionaries  would  not  abandon  their  post, 
the  government  at  Tranquebar  required  that  one  of  them 
should  always  act  as  the  Danish  royal  Resident,  and  hold,  as 
it  were,  the  presidency  of  the  islands.  This  office,  however, 
was  frequently  a  source  of  much  vexation,  and  even  of  dan- 
ger, to  them.  The  Danes,  when  they  formed  their  first  set- 
tlement on  one  of  these  islands,  which  they  called  New  Den- 
mark, had  conveyed  thiiher  a  considerable  number  of  can- 
non; but  after  the  dc-th  of  all  the  soldiers,  the  carriages 
rotted  to  pieces,  and  the  guns  wtre  suffered  to  lie  on  the 
ground.  On  one  occasion,  a  Aacata,  or  general  of  the  king 
of  Queda,  as  he  styled  himself,  arrived  at  Nancauwery  with 
a  large  prow,  and  five  of  the  guns  on  board.  Mr.  Haensel 
being  informiCd  of  this,  considered  it  his  duty  as  Resident  to 
protest  against  the  robbery,  iind  spoke  to  him  concerning  it. 
The  general  Rqw  into  a  great  rage,  and  began  to  use  threat- 
ening language,  pleading  the  orders  of  his  sovereign.  Mr. 
Haensel  replied,  with  all  the  simplicity  of  truth,  that  his 
prince  knew  very  well,  that  as  he  had  laid  nothing  down 
there,  he  had  no  right  to  take  any  thing  up,  and  that  he 
would  give  notice  of  it  to  the  king  of  Denmark.  He  then 
left  him,  but  afterwards  heard,  that  the  fellow  threatened  to 
kill  him,  and  thus  prevent  him  from  reporting  what  he  had 
done.  The  natives  also  assured  Mr.  Haensel;  that  it  was 
the  general's  intention  to  murder  him;  but  that  they  would 
stay  and  defend  him.  They,  accordingly,  stopped  till  late 
in  the  night  when  the  Brethren  desired  them  to  return  home, 
but  could  scarcely  prevail  on  them  to  go  away.* 

After  they  were  away,  and  just  as  the  Brethren  were  pre- 
paring to  retire  to  bed,  they  heard  a  noise  without,  and  im- 
mediately after,  a  violent  knocking  at  the  door.  On  opening  it, 
Mr.  Haensel  was  alarmed  to  see  it  surrounded  by  a  great  num- 
ber of  Malays;  but  though  he  was  much  afraid,  he  assumed  an 

*  Haensel's  Letters,  p.  65- 


by  the  United  Brethren.  71 

authoritative  air,  and  kept  his  station  at  the  entrance,  as  if 
determined  not  to  let  them  in.  The  foremost,  however,  push- 
ed by  him,  and  then  the  Nacata  himself  came  forward.  Iluv- 
ing  treacherously  held  out  his  hand,  Mr.  Haensel  offered  him 
his  in  return,  upon  which  the  barbarian  grasped  it  firmly,  and 
dragged  him  into  the  house.  The  Malays  immediately 
crowded  into  the  room,  and  sat  down  on  the  chairs  and  on 
the  floor,  closely  watching  him,  armed  with  their  creeses  or 
daggers.  Though  Mr.  Haensel  preserved  a  iirm  undaunted 
look,  yet  it  is  impossible  to  describe  the  inward  feelings  of 
his  mind  on  this  occasion,  for  he  expected  every  moment  to 
fall  a  sacrifice  to  their  fury.  The  Nacata  then  told  him,  that 
he  had  come  to  ask  whose  property  the  cannon  were  to  be, 
the  Resident's  or  his?  To  this  question  Mr.  Haensel  replied 
to  the  following  effect:  "  You  have  come  to  the  wrong  per- 
son to  make  that  enquiry;  for  I  am  only  a  servant  of  the  king 
of  Denmark,  as  you,  according  to  your  own  account,  are  the 
servant  of  the  king  of  Queda.  Neither  of  us,  therefore,  can 
determine  who  shall  have  the  cannon.  Our  respective  mas- 
ters, and  they  only  can  settle  that  point.  You  have  told  me 
that  you  have  received  orders  to  bring  them;  and  I  can  as- 
sure you  that  I  have  orders  to  protest  against  it:  We  liave 
both  therefore  only  done  our  duty.  All  now  depends  on  this 
point,  whether  my  king  or  your  king  has  the  best  right  to 
give  orders  on  these  islands,  and  to  claim  the  property  in 
question." 

On  receiving  this  answer,  the  Necata  became  quite  furi- 
ous, and  began  to  talk  of  the  ease  with  which  the  Malays^ 
could  murder  them  all.  Some  of  them  even  drew  their  dag- 
gers, and  shewed  the  missionary  how  they  were  tipped  with 
poison.  On  a  sudden  they  all  rose  up,  and  to  his  imagina- 
tion seemed  to  rush  upon  him;  but  instead  of  this  they  quit- 
ted the  room,  one  by  one,  and  left  him  standing  alone  in 
astonishment  at  their  conduct.  As  soon  as  they  w^re  all 
gone,  and  he  found  himself  in  safety,  he  fell  on  his  knees, 
and  with  tears  in  his  eyes  returned  thanks  to  God  Almighty, 


72  Propagation  of  Christianitij 

who  had  so  graciously  heard  his  prayers,  and  saved  him  from 
the  hands  of  his  enemies.  His  brethren,  who  had  fled  into 
the  wood  when  the  Malays  first  burst  into  the  house,  now 
returned,  and  they  mutually  wept  for  joy  to  see  each  other 
still  alive.* 

After  they  had  somewhat  recovered  from  their  fright,  Mr. 
Haensel  went  to  the  village,  and  told  their  old  Nicobar  cap- 
tain what  had  happened,  upon  which  he  sent  a  message  to 
all  the  neighbouring  villages,  and  in  a  short  time  great  num- 
bers of  the  natives  arrived,  well  armed,  and  watched  at  the 
landing  place  all  night.  Had  the  Malays  oftered  to  return, 
not  one  of  them  it  is  probable,  would  have  escaped  with  his 
life.  The  Nacata,  it  seems,  had  said,  that  the  Danish  Resi- 
dent at  Nancauwery  was  a  very  great  sorcerer,  for  he  had 
tied  their  hands  that  they  could  do  nothing  to  him.  f 

As  the  Nicobar  Islands  abound  with  those  celebrated  eat- 
able nests  which  constitute  one  of  the  luxuries  of  an  Indian 
banquet,  great  numbers  of  Malays  and  Chinese  came  thither 
in  quest  of  them.  These  visitors  always  created  much  con- 
fusion and  quarrelling  among  the  islanders,  by  their  knavery 
and  frequent  acts  of  assassination,  and  they  likewise  occa- 
sioned the  missionaries  no  small  vexation  and  trouble.  In 
general,  fifteen  or  sixteen,  and,  in  one  year,  nineteen  large 
prows,  full  of  vagabonds,  came  to  Nancauwery.  Once  when 
Mr.  Haensel  was  at  Manjoul,  a  small  island  to  the  eastward  of 
George's  Channel,  a  prow  arrived  there  with  about  sixty 
Malays  on  board,  commanded  by  a  Nacata,  who  called  him- 
self Sayet  Ismael,  a  priest  of  the  king  of  Queda.  He  was  tlie 
most  civil,  well-behaved  Malay,  the  missionary  ever  saw; 
and,  therefore,  he  advised  him  to  stay  where  he  was,  to  make 
a  regular  agreement  with  the  natives  about  the  price  of  the 
nests,  to  pay  faithfully  for  them,  and  to  maintain  good  order 
among  his  men,  so  as  to  prevent  all  cause  of  complaint,  and 
he  assured  him  that  by  this  means,  he  would  obtain  a  good 
cargo.     The  priest  took  his  advice,  and  procured  a  consid- 

•Haensel's  Letters,  p.  68.  Ibid.  p.  70. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  73 

ciable  quantity  of  nests,  wliile  those  who  followed  him  got 
none  at  all.* 

Among  these  was  a  man  who  styled  himself  a  prince  of 
Queda,  and  had  two  Nacatas,  some  women,  and  a  numerous 
crew  on  board  his  prow.  Every  where  he  committed  the 
greatest  acts  of  barbarity,  and  in  the  island  of  New  Denmark, 
he  murdered  two  of  the  inhabitants.  Shortly  after,  he  came 
to  a  small  island  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Nancauwery, 
where  he  seized  upon  Sayet  Ismael's  prow,  who,  in  conse- 
quence of  this,  came  to  the  Brethren  and  begged  their  pro- 
tection. Meanwhile,  the  prince  heard  that  the  missionaries 
had  obtained  a  great  number  of  nests,  and  as  he  thought  it 
would  be  no  difficult  matter  to  plunder  them  likewise,  he 
came  to  Nancauwery  with  two  large  prows,  filled  with  the 
most  ferocious  of  the  Malay  race.  They  entered  the  mission 
house  without  any  ceremony;  and  while  Mr,  Haensel,  who 
was  alone  in  the  midst  of  them,  was  walking  about,  the 
prince  inquired,  whether  he  had  any  bird  nests?  The  mis- 
sionary answered  in  the  affirmative ;  upon  which  the  villian 
pretended  that  he  was  come  to  purchase  them  from  him,  and 
wished  to  see  them.  During  this  conversation,  Mr.  Haen- 
sel happened  to  step  towards  the  door ;  and  a  Caffre  servant 
who  stood  near  it,  imagined  that  he  had  made  a  sign  to  him 
to  call  the  natives  to  his  assistance,  though,  in  fact,  he  was 
so  much  agitated,  that  he  did  not  even  observe  him.  The 
man,  however,  ran  immediately  into  the  neighbouring  vil- 
lage, and  called  the  people  together.  Meanwhile,  Mr.  Ha- 
ensel told  the  prince  that  he  should  not  get  a  single  nest  from 
him,  and  reproved  him  sharply  for  murdering  the  two  men 
in  New  Denmark,  who  were  under  the  protection  of  his  sov- 
creign.  At  this  the  barbarian  flew  into  a  violent  passion, 
saying  he  would  soon  shew  him,  that  he  had  it  in  his  pow- 
er to  seize  all  his  bird  nests;  and  as  for  the  two  men  who 
had  been  stabbed  on  that  island,  he  was  not  bound  to  an- 
swer for  the  deed  to  him.  f 

•  Ha^nscl's  Letters,  p.  32,  65.  +  Hid  p.  7?. 

VOL.   11.  K 


74  Propagation  of  Christianity 

The  prince  had  scarcely  finished  this  insuhing  speech, 
when  a  party  of  the  natives  unexpectedly  leapt   in  at  the 
windows,  with  drawn  sabres  in  their  hands.     The  Malays, 
alarmed  beyond  description,  asked,  What  was  the  meaning 
of  this?     "  They  come,"   said  the  missionar}^,  "to  prevent 
your  committing  more  murders."  In  a  short  time,  the  house 
was  surrounded  by  the  natives,  both  men  and  women,  armed 
with  sabres,  spears,  and  bludgeons.  The  prince  and  his  men 
now  began  to  beg  Mr.  Haensel  to  take  them  under  his  pro- 
tection; but  he,  instead  of  giving  them  an  answer,  continued 
to  reprove  them  for  their  base  and  treacherous  practices, 
among  which  he  particularly  noticed  their  plundering  people 
even  of  their  own  nation:  "  Who  then,"   added  he,  "  can 
trust  your   word?     You  deserve   punishment  from   those 
whom  you  have  so  often  provoked  by  your  injustice,  and 
were  I  now  only  to  lift  up  my  hand,  not  a  man  of  you  would 
escape."      Being   sensible   that  they   were  entirely  in  his 
power,  they  began  to  entreat  him  to   interpose  in  their  be- 
half;  and   the   prince   offered  to   restore  all   he  had  taken. 
'-*■  How  can  you,"  said  the  missionary,  "  restore  the  lives  of 
those  you  have  murdered?    However,  )ou  shall  for  once 
keep  your  word,  and  restore  Sayet  Ismael,  his  prow,  with 
the  whole  of  its  cargo.*'     The  prince  having  readily  agreed 
to  this,  Mr.  Haensel  informed  him,  that  his  men  might  go 
unmolested  to  their  palongs,  but  that  he  himself  must  remain 
behind  till  Sayet  Ismael's  prow  was  sent  to  Nancauwery,^ 
and  delivered  up  to  him.     As  he  was  exceedingly  terrified  at 
this,  he  said,  that  unless  he  was  permitted  to  accompany  his 
people,  the  natives  would  certainly  kill  him  ;  and  as  even  the 
priest  him.self  interceded  warmly  in  his  behalf,  Mr.  Haensel 
consented  that  they  should   go  away  together.     He  then 
went  out  to  pacify  the  natives;  but  it  was  with  some  difficulty 
he  succeeded  in  appeasing  their  indignation   against   the 
Malays,  whom  they  now  had  completely  in  their  power. 
Having  at  length  told  them,  that  he  would  look  upon  their 
compliance  v.  ith  his  request  as  a  proof  of  their  regard  to 


by  the  United  Brethren^  75 

himself  and  his  brethren,  they  were  satisfied,  and  of  their 
own  accord  made  a  passage  through  their  ranks  for  the 
robbers.  Still,  however,  their  appearance  was  extremely 
formidable,  as  they  stood  on  each  side  armed  with  their 
spears  and  bludgeons;  and  the  Malays  were  afraid  to  leave 
the  house,  till  Mr.  Haensel,  after  much  entreaty,  agreed  to 
accompany  them  to  the  palongs.  The  prince  himself  seized 
his  hand,  and  \vould  not  let  it  go  till  he  had  got  safe  into  the 
boat."* 

Sayet  Ismael  returned  that  very  night  with  his  prow  and 
cargo,  thankful  for  the  justice  which  he  had  obtained  through 
means  of  the  Brethren.  For  a  time  this  event  had  a  good 
effect  in  repressing  the  depredations  of  these  ferocious  visi- 
tors; but  yet  Mr.  Haensel  was  much  intimidated  by  this  un- 
pleasant occurrence,  and  deeply  regretted  the  necessity  he 
was  under  of  holding  the  office  of  Resident  or  agent  under 
government. t 

In  1783,  the  Brethren  Heinrich,  Fleckner,  and  Raabs, 
three  new  missionaries,  arrived  at  Nancauwer}^,  accompanied 
by  the  mate  of  the  vessel  in  which  they  had  sailed  from 
Tranquebar.  While  they  were  lying  in  the  roads  of  Junk- 
ceylon,  a  French  privateer  came  and  claimed  her  as  a  law- 
ful prize,  though  she  belonged  to  a  neutral  state,  because, 
on  searching  her,  they  found  a  few  old  English  nev.spapers, 
the  property  of  a  Mr.  Wilson,  an  English  gentleman  on 
board,  who  had  escaped  from  one  of  Hyder  Aly's  prisons. 
After  being  long  detained  in  a  very  vexatious  manner,  the 
mate  and  the  three  Brethren  purchased  a  Malay  prow  for 
seventy-five  dollars,  and  stole  away  in  the  night,  as  the  Malay 
prince  refused  to  grant  them  liberty  to  depart.  The  mission- 
aries in  Nancauwery  had  long  been  in  u^ant  of  many  of  the 
necessaries  of  life;  and  now,  instead  of  receiving  a  supply  of 
provisions,  their  number  was  augmented  to  consume  what 
little  they  had,  but  yet  they  rejoiced  to  see  their  beloved 
brethren,  and  did  what  they  could  for  their  relief.     As  the 

•  Haensel's  Letters,  p.  74.  f  Ibid.  p.  76. 


76  Propagation  of  Christianity 

prow  was  utterly  unfit  to  go  to  sea  without  new  sails,  those 
which  it  had  being  nothing  but  old  rotten  mats,  they  wrought 
up  their  whole  stock  of  linen  and  sail-cloth,  and  even  some 
of  their  sheets,  to  make  sails  for  it.  When  these  repairs 
were  completed,  two  of  the  missionaries  left  the  Nicobar 
Islands,  and  returned  in  it  to  Tranquebar.  The  situation 
of  those  who  remained  in  Nancauwery  now  became  more 
wretched  than  ever.  It  was  with  great  difficulty  that  they 
procured  the  common  necessaries  of  life.  Their  constitution 
was  completely  undermined;  they  suffered  much  from  con- 
tinual sickness,  anxiety,  and  toil;  nor  were  their  hearts  ever 
cheered  by  the  conversion  of  any  of  the  natives  to  the  Chris- 
tian faith.* 

With  regard  to  religion,  the  inhabitants  of  the  Nicobar 
Islands  are  in  a  most  deplorable  condition.  Their  notions 
of  a  Supreme  Being  are  singularly  perplexed;  and  it  was 
even  difficult  to  discover  among  them  any  fixed  opinion  of 
His  existence  or  attributes.  They  are  not  professed  idolaters, 
like  most  of  the  other  Oriental  nations.  They  have  not  even 
a  particular  word  to  express  their  idea  of  God.  They  use 
the  term  Knalleji^  when  they  speak  of  him;  but  it  only  sig- 
nifies  above^  on  high,  and  is  applied  to  many  other  objects. 
They  believe,  however,  that  this  unknown  Being  is  good  and 
will  not  hurt  them;  but  wherein  his  goodness  consists  they 
neither  know  nor  care.  But  though  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Nicobar  Islands  pay  little  or  no  regard  to  a  Deity,  they  are 
firm  believers  in  the  doctrine  of  devils;  and  it  is  to  them  all 
their  religious  ceremonies  appear  to  be  directed.  They 
even  ascribe  the  creation  of  the  world  to  the  Eewee^  or  Evil 
Spirit.  When  they  do  any  thing  wrong,  and  are  reproved 
for  it,  they  immediately  answer,  "  it  was  not  me,  it  was  the 
devil  that  did  it."  If  you  convince  them  that  they  did  it  with 
their  own  hands,  they  usually  reply  "  the  Eewee  did  not 
make  me  perfect."  They  speak  of  a  great  many  kinds  of 
devils,  all  of  them  malicious  and  disposed  to  hurt  them,  if 

"  IlacHsel's  Letters,  p.  21,  2?^. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  77 

they  had  not  among  them  such  great  and  powerful  sorcerers, 
who,  by  their  superior  ability,  can  catch  and  bring  them  into 
subjection.  It  is  not  wonderful  that  the  conjurers  should 
be  able  to  impose  on  these  poor  ignorant  creatures,  for  they 
really  do  possess  astonishing  dexterity.  Every  person  who 
has  visited  the  East  Indies  knows  with  what  curious  slight- 
of-hand  tricks  the  jugglers  amuse  the  people;  but  in  the 
Nicobar  Islands,  where  these  arts  are  applied  to  what  are 
considered  as  religious  exercises,  the  deception  is  so  great 
that  an  ordinary  spectator  is  amazed,  and  is  perfectly  unable 
to  account  for  them.* 

The  Brethren  endeavoured  to  learn  the  Nicobar  language, 
and  to  explain  to  them  in  the  best  manner  they  were  able 
the  love  of  God  to  man,  and  the  way  of  salvation  through 
a  crucified  Redeemer.  These  things  the  savages  heard  with 
silent  attention;  but  that  they  themselves  were  interested  in 
them,  was  more  than  they  could  comprehend.  When  the 
missionaries  told  them,  that  they  had  come  thither  for  no 
other  purpose  but  to  make  known  to  them  their  Creator  and 
Redeemer,  and  begged  them  to  reflect  on  what  was  taught 
them,  they  laughed  in  reply.  Sometimes  they  even  remark- 
ed, that  they  could  not  believe  that  the  suficrings  of  one 
man  could  atone  for  the  sins  of  another,  and  that,  therefore, 
if  they  were  wicked,  what  the  Brethren  told  them  concerning 
a  crucified  Saviour  could  do  them  no  service;  but  they  main- 
tained that  they  were  good  by  nature,  and  never  did  any- 
thing wrong.  When  the  missionaries  replied,  that  they  had 
but  lately  murdered  some  people,  and  afterwards  abused  the 
dead  bodies,  thrusting  their  spears  into  them,  mutilating 
them  in  the  most  wanton  manner,  and  at  last  cutting  them 
to  pieces;  and  asked  them  whether  this  was  a  proof  of  their 
natural  goodness,  their  answer  was  "  you  do  not  understand 
the  matter:  these  people  were  not  fit  to  live;  they  were  can- 
nibals, "f 

But  though  the  inhabitants  of  the  Nicobar  Islands  refused 

*  llaensel's  Letters,  p.  48,  51.  t  Ibid.  p.  20,  48. 


TS'  Propagation  of  Christiankij 

to  embrace  Christianity,  they  were  always  extremely  friendly 
to  the  missionaries;  and  were  not  only  forward  to  defend 
them  against  their  enemies,  as  we  have  already  seen,  but  in 
some  instances  they  have  behaved  with  a  generosity  which 
could  scarcely  have  been  expected  of  savages.  The  Brethren 
used  to  buy  from  them  such  articles  as  they  needed,  and 
to  pay  them  with  tobacco  at  the  current  price.  The  natives, 
however,  even  when  they  had  nothing  to  sell,  would  come 
for  their  portion  of  tobacco,  which  the  missionaries  never 
refused  as  long  as  they  had  any  themselves,  until,  by  the  non- 
arrival  of  the  ship,  they  were  left  entirely  without  it.  They 
then  told  the  captain  of  the  village,  that  as  they  had  no  more 
tobacco,  the  people  need  bring  no  more  provisions,  for  they 
had  nothing  to  give  them  in  exchange.  The  captain  did  as 
they  desired;  but  yet,  on  the  very  next  day,  the  Brethren 
were  more  plentifully  supplied  than  ever  with  the  articles 
they  wanted.  The  people  would  not  even  wait  for  payment; 
but  hung  up  their  fruit  and  meat  about  the  house,  and  went 
away.  The  missionaries  called  after  them  and  told  them 
bow  they  were  situated,  to  which  their  generous  visitors  re- 
plied, "  when  you  had  plenty  of  tobacco,  you  gave  us  as 
much  as  you  could  spare;  now,  though  you  have  no  more  of 
it,  we  have  provisions  enough,  and  you  sliall  have  what  you 
want,  as  long  as  we  have  any,  till  you  get  more  tobacco." 
This  promise  they  most  faitlifully  performed.  Indeed,  though 
they  were  an  ignorant,  barbarous,  wicked  race,  yet  in  gene- 
ral they  were  kind  and  gentle  in  their  dispositions,  except 
when  roused  by  jealousy  or  other  provocations,  and  then 
their  uncontrouled  headstrong  passions  drove  them  into  the 
greatest  excesses.* 

Thoueh  the  failure  of  a  mission  must  ultimately  be  refer- 
red  to  the  sovereignty  of  God,  yet  as  there  are  generally 
various  external  circumstances  which  contribute  to  this  end, 
it  may  not  be  improper  to  notice  some  of  those  particular 

•  Uaensel'd  Letters,  2?,  48. 


hi/  the  United  Brethren.  79 

CLiuses  which  operated  in  rendering  abortive  the  labours  of 
the  Brethren  in  the  Nicobar  Islands. 

First,  the  extreme  difliculty  of  the  language.  Though 
die  missionaries  had  an  opportunity  of  conversing  with  some 
of  the  people  in  a  kind  of  bastard  Portuguese,  yet  it  was  ne- 
cessary to  acquire  their  own  language,  in  order  to  preach 
the  gospel  to  the  inhabitants  in  general.  With  this  view 
they  engaged  one  of  the  natives,  called  Philip,  as  their  teach- 
er. The  language,  however,  is  remarkably  barren  of  words, 
and  the  people  themselves  are  of  so  indolent  a  turn,  that 
even  talking  seems  a  burden  to  them;  and  as  long  as  they 
can  express  their  meaning  by  signs,  they  are  unwilling  to 
open  their  lips.  If  a  stranger  enter  their  houses,  they  sit 
still  and  look  at  him;  or,  perhaps,  pointing  to  some  food, 
give  him  a  sign  to  sit  down  and  eat.  There  he  may  remain 
for  hours,  without  hearing  a  syllable  drop  from  their  lips, 
unless  he  can  begin  himself,  and  then  they  will  answer  him 
in  a  friendly  manner.  Besides,  both  the  men  and  women 
have  always  a  large  piece  of  the  betel  or  areca  nut  in  their 
mouths,  which  renders  their  speech  so  indistinct,  that  it  is 
scarcely  possible  to  distinguish  between  the  sputtering 
sounds  they  make.  As  to  books  and  vocabularies,  the  Breth- 
ren found  none;  and  though  a  few  of  them  made  some  pro- 
ficiency in  the  language,  yet  none  of  them  acquired  such  a 
knowledge  of  it  as  to  be  able  to  explain  fully  to  the  natives 
the  way  of  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ.* 

Secondly,  The  unhealthiness  of  the  climate.  In  conse- 
quence of  tliis,  most  of  the  missionaries  were  cut  off  before 
they  could  learn  the  language,  or  just  when  they  had  advan- 
ced so  far,  that  they  were  able  to  converse  with  the  natives^ 
and  thus  their  successors  had  to  begin  the  work  anew,  and 
the  prospect  of  accomplishing  the  chief  design  of  the  mission 
M'as  put  off  from  year  to  year.  During  the  comparativel}^ 
short  period  of  its  existence,  eleven  worthy  missionaries 
found  their  graves  in  Nancauwery,  and  thirteen  more  died 

*■  IlacnscTs  Letters,  p.  6\,  64. 


80  tropagation  of  Christianity 

soon  after  their  return  to  Tranquebar,  in  consequence  of  the 
mahgnant  fevers,  and  the  obstructions  in  the  liver,  which 
they  had  contracted  on  that  island.  Besides,  these  dreadful 
disorders,  and  the  seasoning  fever,  which  every  person  must 
at  first  suffer,  are  accompanied  with  such  pain  in  the  head, 
such  dejection  of  spirits,  such  constant  sickness,  that  the 
mind  is  perfectly  stupified,  and  is  overwhelmed  with  such 
desponding  views  of  the  possibility  of  relief  and  of  future 
usefulness,  as  renders  a  person  altogether  unfit  for  exercising 
that  unremitting  diligence,  that  active  exertion,  which  arc 
necessary  in  the  conduct  of  a  mission.* 

Thirdly,  These  evils  were  all  aggravated  by  the  Breth- 
ren's mode  of  life.  Their  great  exertions  in  clearing  and 
planting  the  land,  and  in  other  laborious  exercises  which 
necessity  imposed  upon  them,  were  a  principal  cause  of  the 
various  disorders  which  prevailed  among  them.  To  this  we 
may  add,  that  during  some  of  the  latter  years  of  the  mission, 
there  was  ;i  Vv^ant  of  that  love  among  the  Brethren,  and  of 
that  union  in  the  prosecution  of  their  labours,  which  should 
ever  reign  among  missionaries,  and  which  are  so  essential 
to  their  success.f . 

In  consequence  of  the  various  difficulties  of  the  attempt, 
tlie  loss  of  so  manv  valuable  lives,  the  want  of  Brethren  to 
devote  themselves  to  so  hopeless  a  cause,  and  the  enormous 
expense  of  the  undertaking,  a  resolution  was  at  length  taken 
to  give  up  the  mission.  In  1787,  Mr.  Haensel,  who  had  now 
returned  to  Tranquebar,  was  deputed  to  Nancauwery,  to 
bring  away  the  only  missionary  who  still  remained,  and  all 
the  effects  belonging  to  the  mission.  He  was  accompanied 
by  a  lieutenant,  a  corporal,  and  six  private  soldiers,  who 
were  sent  by  the  governor  to  take  possession  of  the  premises, 
and  to  whom  he  delivered  up  every  thing  he  could  not  carry 
away.  No  language  can  describe  the  painful  sensations 
which  crowded  into  his  mind  while  he  was  executing  this 
disagreeable  task,  and  making  a  conclusion  of  the  Brethren's 

•  Ilaensel's  letters,  p.  62.        f  Ibid.  p.  22,  63. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  8 1 

labours  in  the  Nicobar  Islands.  The  sight  of  the  bur}dng 
ground  where  eleven  of  his  fellow-missionaries  lay,  particu- 
larly affected  him.  He  often  visited  this  place,  sat  down, 
and  wept  over  their  graves.  His  last  farewell  with  the  na- 
tives, who  flocked  to  him  from  all  the  neighbouring  islands, 
was  truly  affecting.  They  wept  and  howled  for  grief,  and 
begged  that  the  Brethren  would  soon  return.* 

The  mission  on  the  continent  of  India,  though  not  attend- 
ed with  so  many  trying  circumstances,  was  followed  by  no 
greater  success.  Several  Brethren,  indeed,  went  to  Seram- 
pore  and  Patna,  and  resided  in  these  places  for  some  time, 
in  the  hope  of  ultimately  promoting  the  interests  of  religion 
among  the  Hindoos;  but  in  consequence  of  various  circum- 
stances, these  settlements  were  at  last  relinquished.  In  Tran- 
quebar,  the  labours  of  the  Brethren  proved  equally  fruitless; 
and  as  the  mission  was  extremely  expensive,  it  was  finally 
abandoned  about  the  year  1803. f 


SECTION  X, 

Cape  of  Good  Hope. J 

IN  1736,  George  Schmidt,  a  man  of  remarkable  zeal  and 
of  undaunted  courage,  was  sent  by  the  Brethren  to  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  with  the  view  of  introducing  Christianity 
among  the  Hottentots.  On  his  arrival  in  that  colony,  he 
fixed  on  a  spot  for  a  settlement  near  Serjeant's  river,  and 
proceeded  to  build   himself  a  hut  and  to  plant  a  garden. 

*  Haensel's  Letters,  p.  26.     f  Periodical  Accounts,  vol.  v.  p.  13;  vol.  iii.  p.  160,  221. 

\  This  country  was  colonized  by  tlic  Dutch  East  India  Company 

at  the  instance  of  Van  Riebck,  a  surgeon  of  one  of  their  India  ships, 

about  the  year  1651.  It  was  surrendered  to  the  British  in  1795,  restored 

to  the  Dutch  by  the  Treaty  of  Amiens  in  the  year  1 802,  but  was  aj^ain 

VOL.  n.  T. 


82  Propagation  of  Christianity 

Having  collected  a  number  of  the  Hottentots  to  this  place, 
he  found  their  language  not  only  extremely  difficult  to  learn, 
but  very  unfit  for  conveying  the  truths  of  religion  to  their  un- 

taken  by  the  English  after  the  renewal  of  hosliiities,  and  remains  in 
their  possession. 

The  territory  extends  about  550  miles  in  length  from  west  to  east, 
and  315  in  breadth  from  south  to  north.  It  lies  between  30°  and  342"^ 
south  latitude,  and  18°  and  28°  of  east  longitude;  and  is  divided  into 
four  districts,  viz.  the  Cape  district,  that  of  Stellenbosch  and  Draken- 
steen,  tliat  of  Zwellendam,  and  that  of  Graaf  Reynet. 

Mr.  Barrow,  who  travelled  throughout  the  southern  part  of  Africa, 
gives  VIS  the  following  description  of  this  country,  and  its  native  inhabi- 
tants: 

"  A  very  great  portion  of  this  extensive  tei'ritory  inay  be  considered 
as  an  unprofitable  waste,  unfit  for  any  sort  of  culture,  or  even  to  be  em- 
ployed as  pasture  for  the  support  of  cattle.  Level  plains,  consisting  of 
a  hard  impenetrable  surface  of  clay,  thinly  sprinkled  over  with  crystal- 
ized  sand,  condemned  to  perpetual  drought,  and  producing  only  a  few 
straggling  tufts  of  acrid,  saline,  and  succulent  plants,  and  chains  of 
vast  mountains  that  are  either  totally  naked,  or  clothed  in  parts  with 
sour  grasses  only,  or  such  plants  as  are  noxious  to  animal  life,  compose 
at  least  one  half  of  the  colony  of  the  Cape.  Two  of  these  chains  of  moun- 
tains, called  the  Zwarte  -Berg,  or  Black  Mountain,  and  the  A''euveldt 
Gebergtc,  inclose  together  the  great  Karro,  or  dry  desert,  extending 
nearly  300  miles  in  length  and  80  in  breadth,  and  uninhabited  by  any 
human  creature.  Behind  the  town  called  Cape-town,  are  the  mountains 
called  the  Table  Mountain,  the  Devil's  Mountain,  the  Lion's  Head,  and 
the  Lion's  Back.  The  Table  Mountain  is  a  stupendous  mass  of  naked 
rock,  the  north  front  of  which,  directly  facing  the  town,  is  a  horizontal 
line,  or  very  nearly  so,  about  two  miles  in  length.  The  bold  face  that 
rises  almost  at  right  angles  to  meet  this  line  has  the  appearance  of  the 
ruined  walls  of  some  gigantic  fortress;  and  these  walls  rise  above  the 
level  of  Table  Bay  to  the  height  of  3582  feet.  The  Devil's  Mountain 
on  the  one  side,  and  the  Lion's  Head  on  the  other,  make,  in  fact,  with 
the  Table,  but  one  mountain:  the  height  of  the  former  is  3315,  and  that 
of  the  latter  2160  feet.  The  Devil's  Mountain  is  broken  into  irregular 
points,  but  the  upper  part  of  the  Lion's  Head  is  a  solid  mass  of  stone, 
rounded  and  fashioned  like  a  work  of  art,  and  resembling  very  much, 
from  some  points  of  view,  the  dome  of  St.  Paul's  placed  upon  a  high 
cone-shaped  hill.  From  these  mountains  descend  several  rivulets  which 
fall  into  Table  Bay,  and  False  Bay;  but  the  principal  rivers  of  the  colo- 
ny are  the  Berg  or  Mountain  River,  the  Breede  or  Broad  River,  called 
also  the  Orange  River,  which  has  its  periodical  inundations  like  the 
Nile,  and  its  cataracts;  the  Sunday  River,  and  the  Great  Fish  River, 
which  is  the  boundary  of  the  colony  to  the  east. 

The  climate  of  the  Cape  appears  to  be  in  general  free  from  the  ex- 
tremes of  either  heat  or  cold,  and  not  in  reality  unhealthy.  It  has 
been  usual  with  the  Dutch  to  consider  the  year  as  consisting  of  two 
periods,  called  the  good  and  bad  monsoon;  but  "  as  these,"  Mr.  Bar- 
row observes,  "  are  neither  regular  in  their  retui^ns,  nor  certain  in 
their  continuance,  the  division  into  four  seasons,  as  in  Europe,  appears 


by  the  United  Brethren,  83 

tutored  minds,  and  therefore  he  began  to  teach  them  Dutch. 
In  his  school  he  had  generally  from  thirty  to  fifty  scholars; 
and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  a  number  of  them  not  only 

to  be  more  proper.  The  spring,  reckoned  from  tlie  beginning  of  Sep- 
tember to  that  of  December,  is  the  most  agreeable  season;  the  smnmer, 
from  December  to  March,  is  the  hottest;  the  autumn,  from  March  to 
June,  is  variable  weather,  generally  fine,  and  the  latter  part  very  plea- 
sant, the  vv-inter,  from  June  to  September,  though  in  general  pteasant, 
is  frequently  very  stormy,  rainy,  and  cold. 

Cape-town,  the  capital  of  this  colony,  and  indeed  the  only  assemblage 
of  houses  which  deserves  the  name  of  a  town,  is  pleasantly  situate  at 
the  head  of  Table  Bay,  on  a  sloping  plain  that  rises  with  an  easy  ascent 
to  the  feet  of  the  Devil's  Hill,  the  Table  Mountain,  and  the  Lion's 
Head,  before  mentioned.  The  town,  consisting  of  about  1100  houses, 
built  with  regularity,  and  kept  in  neat  order,  is  disposed  into  straight 
and  parallel  streets,  intersecting  each  other  at  right  angles.  Many  of 
the  streets  are  open  and  airy,  with  canals  of  water  running  through 
them,  walled  in,  and  planted  on  each  side  with  oaks;  others  are  narrow 
and  ill  paved.  Three  or  four  squares  give  an  openness  to  the  town.  In 
one  is  held  the  public  market;  another  is  the  common  resort  of  the  pea- 
santry with  their  waggons;  and  a  third,  near  the  shore  of  the  bay,  and 
between  the  town  and  the  castle,  serves  as  a  parade  for  the  exercising 
of  the  troops. 

The  general  name  which  the  Hottentots  bear  among  themselves  in 
every  part  of  the  country,  is  Quaiqua.  Those  which  are  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the   Dutch,  and  were  formerly  the  natives  of  the  Cape,  suffer 
the  most  abject  and  cruel   slavery,  on   which  account  their  number  is 
rapidly  on  the  decline,  and  it  is  presumable  the  name  of  Hottentot,  as  a 
slave,  will  be  remembered  only  as  the  name  of  a  deceased  person  to  a 
posterity  not  very  remote.  There  are  still,  however,  sev-^ral  tribes,  as  the 
Namaquas,  the  Bosjesmen  or  Boschemen,  and  the  Gonaquas,  who  still 
preserve  their  liberty  and  independence.     "  The  former  vary  but  little 
in  their  persons  and  dress  from  the  Hottentots  of  the  Cape  and  the 
Gonaquas,  though  their  language  is  Avidely  different.  The  Bosjesmens, 
or  men  of  the  bushes,  so  called  from   their  lying  in  ambush  in  their 
predatory  expeditions  against  the  farmers    of  the   colony,    are,   says 
Mr.  Barrow,   an   extraordinary  race  of  people.    In  their  persons  they 
•are  extremely  diminutive:   tlie  tallest  of  the  men  measured  only  four 
feet  nine  inches,  and  the  tallest  women  only  four  feet  four  inches.  One 
of  these,  who  had  several  children,  measured  only  three  feet  nine  inches. 
Their  colour,  their  hair,  and  the  general  turn  of  their  features,  evidently 
denote  a  common  origin  with  the  other  tribes  of  Hottentots,  though  the 
latter,  in  point  of  personal  appearance,  have  greatly  the  advantage.  The 
Bosjesmen  indeed  are  amongst  the  ugliest  of  all   human  beings.  The 
flat  nose,  high  cheek-bones,  prominent  chin,  and  concave  visage,  par- 
take much  of  the  apeish    character,  which  their  keen  eye,  always    in 
motion,  tends  not  to  diminish.  Their  bellies  are  uncommonly  protube- 
rant, and  their  backs  hollow;  but  their  limbs  seem  to  be  in  general  well 
turned  and  well  proportioned.  Their  activity  is  incredibly  great.  The 
klip-springing  antelope  can  scarcely  excel  them  in  leaping  from  rock 
+.0  rock;  and  they  arc  said  to  be  so  swift  that  on  rough  ground,  or  up 


84  Propagation  of  Christiamty 

learned  to  read,  but  he  had  the  pleasure  of  baptizing  several 
of  them.  As  various  impediments,  however,  were  thrown  in 
his  way,  he  judged  it  expedient  to  return  to  Europe  in  1744, 

the  sides  of  mountains,  horsemen  have  no  chance  with  them.  The  Bos- 
jesman,  however,  though  in  every  respect  a  Hottentot,  yet  in  his  turn 
of  mind  differs  very  widely  from  those  who  live  in  the  colony.  In  his 
disposition  he  is  lively  and  cheerful,  and  in  his  person  active.  His  talents 
are  far  above  mediocrity;  and  averse  to  idleness,  he  is  seldom  without 
employment.  Coiifined  generally  to  their  hovels  by  day,  for  fear  of  be- 
ing surprised  and  taken  by  the  farmers,  they  sometimes  dance  on  moon 
light  nights  from  the  setting  to  the  rising  of  the  sun.  This  cheerfulness 
is  the  more  extraordinary  as  the  morsel  they  procure  to  support  exis- 
tence is  earned  with  danger  and  fatigue.  The  Bosjesmen  neither  culti- 
vate the  ground  nor  breed  cattle,  and  their  country  yields  few  natural 
productions  that  serve  for  food.  The  bulbs  of  the  iris,  a  few  roots  of  a 
bitter  and  pungent  taste,  and  the  larvse  of  ants  and  locusts  are  all  it 
furnishes;  and  when  these  fail  they  are  driven  to  the  necessity  of  hazard- 
ing a  toilsome  and  dangerous  expedition  into  the  colony." 

We  learn  from  M.  Vaillant,  a  French  traveller,  that  the  Gonaquas 
resemble  in  their  cvistoms,  manners,  and  features,  the  natives  of  Caf- 
fraria,  and  are  probably  a  mixed  breed  of  Caffres  and  Hottentots.  The 
country  of  the  Gonaquas,  says  he,  into  which  I  travelled,  did  not  contain 
3000  inhabitants,  in  an  extent  of  thirty  or  forty  leagues.  These  people 
did  not  resemble  those  degenerated  and  miserable  Hottentots  who  pine 
in  the  heart  of  the  Dutch  colonies,  contemptible  and  despised  inhabi- 
tants, who  bear  no  marks  of  their  ancient  origin  but  an  empty  name; 
and  who  enjoy,  at  the  expense  of  their  liberty,  only  a  little  peace,  pur- 
chased at  a  dear  rale,  by  the  excessive  labour  to  which  they  are  sub- 
jected on  the  plantations,  and  by  the  despotism  of  their  chiefs,  who  are 
always  sold  to  government.  I  had  here  an  opportunity  of  admiring  a 
free  and  brave  people,  valuing  nothmg  but  independence,  and  never 
obeying  any  impulse  foreign  to  nature." 

Traduced  as  the  Hottentots  have  been  by  civilized  nations,  as  hardly 
deserving  the  name  of  human  beings;  yet  they  possess  many  excellent 
equalities  and  dispositions  that  indicate  susceptibility  of  intellectual  and 
moral  improvement;  and  in  humane  tenderness  and  hospitality  far  ex- 
ceed many  civilized  nations.  Our  author  informs  us,  that  "  separated 
from  Europe  by  an  immensity  of  sea,  and  from  the  Dutch  colonies  by 
desert  mountains  and  impassible  rocks,  too  nmch  communication  with 
these  people  has  not  yet  led  their  women  to  the  excesses  of  our  depra- 
vation. On  the  contrary,  when  they  have  the  happiness  of  becoming 
mothers,  nature  addresses  them  in  a  different  language;  they  assume, 
more  than  in  any  other  country,  a  spirit  suitable  to  their  state,  and  read- 
ily give  themselves  up  to  those  cares  which  she  imperiously  requires 
of  them." 

"  A  physiognomist,  or,  if  the  reader  please,  a  modern  wit,  would  en- 
tertain his  company  by  assigning  to  the  Hottentot,  in  the  scale  of  be- 
ings, a  place  between  a  man  and  the  ourang-outang.  I  cannot,  however, 
consent  to  this  systematic  arrangement;  the  qualities  which  I  esteem  in 
him  will  never  suffer  him  to  be  degraded  so  far;  and  I  have  found  his 
figure  stifhciently  beautiful,  because  I  experienced  the  goodness  of  his 


by  the  United  Brethren.  85 

in  the  hope  of  obtaining  the  removal  of  them,  and  of  pro- 
curing some  of  the  Brethren  to  assist  him  in  his  labours.  He 
left  his  small  congregation,  consisting  of  forty '-seven  persons 

heart.  It  must  indeed  be  allowed,  that  there  is  something  peculiar  in 
features,  which  in  a  certain  degree  separates  him  from  the  generality 
of  mankind.  His  cheek-bones  are  exceedingly  prominent;  so  that  his 
face  being  very  broad  in  that  part,  and  the  jaw-bones,  on  the  contrary, 
extremely  narrow,  his  visage  continues  still  decreasing  even  to  the 
point  of  the  chin.  This  configuration  gives  him  an  air  of  lankness, 
which  makes  his  head  appear  very  much  disproportioned,  and  too  small 
for  his  full  and  plump  body.  His  flat  nose  rises  scarcely  half  an  inch  at 
its  greatest  elevation;  and  liis  nostrils,  which  are  excessively  wide,  often 
exceed  in  height  the  ridge  of  his  nose.  His  mouth  is  large,  and  fur- 
nished with  small  teeth  well  enamelled  and  perfectly  white:  his  eyes, 
very  beautiful  and  open,  incline  a  little  towards  the  nose,  like  those  of 
the  Chinese:  and  to  the  sight  and  touch  his  hair  has  the  resemblance 
of  wool;  it  is  very  short,  curls  naturally,  and  in  colour  is  as  black  as 
ebony.  He  has  very  little  hair,  yet  he  employs  no  sinall  care  to  pull  out 
by  the  roots  part  of  what  he  has;  but  the  natural  thinness  of  his  eye- 
brows saves  him  from  this  trouble  in  that  part.  Though  he  has  no  beard 
but  upon  the  upper  lip,  below  the  nose,  and  at  the  extremity  of  the  chin, 
he  never  fails  to  pluck  it  out  as  soon  as  it  appears.  This  gives  him  an 
effeminate  look;  which,  joined  to  the  natural  mildness  of  his  character, 
destroys  that  commanding  fierceness  usual  among  savages.  The  wo- 
men, with  more  delicacy  of  features,  exhibit  the  same  characteristic 
marks  in  their  figure:  they  are  equally  well  made.  The  sound  of  their 
voice  is  soft;  and  their  idiom,  passing  through  the  throat,  is  not  desti- 
tute of  hai'mony.  When  they  speak,  they  employ  a  great  many  ges- 
tures, which  give  power  and  gracefulness  to  their  arms." 

"  The  Hottentots  are  naturally  timid;  their  phlegmatic  coolness  and 
their  serious  looks  give  them  an  air  of  reserve,  which  they  never  lay 
aside,  even  at  the  most  joyful  moments;  while,  on  the  contrary,  all  other 
black  or  tawny  nations  give  themselves  up  to  pleasure  with  the  liveli- 
est joy  and  without  any  restraint. 

"  A  profound  indifference  to  the  affairs  of  life  inclines  them  verv 
much  to  inactivity  and  indolence:  the  keeping  of  their  flocks,  and  the 
care  of  procuring  a  subsistence,  are  the  only  objects  that  occupy  their 
thoughts.  They  never  follow  hunting  as  sportsmen,  but  like  people 
oppressed  and  tormented  by  hunger.  In  short,  forgetting  the  past,  and 
being  under  no  imeasiness  for  the  future,  they  are  struck  only  with 
the  present;  and  it  is  that  which  alone  engages  their  attention. 

They  are  however  (observes  M.  Vaiilant)  the  best,  the  kindest, 
and  the  most  hospitable  of  people.  Whoever  travels  among  theni 
may  be  sure  of  finding  food  and  lodging;  and  though  they  will  receive 
presents,  yet  they  never  ask  for  any  thing.  If  the  Li-aveller  has  a  long- 
journey  to  accomplish,  and  if  they  learn  from  the  information  he  re- 
quires that  there  are  no  hopes  of  his  soon  meeting  with  other  hordes, 
that  which  he  is  going  to  quit  supply  him  with  provisions  as  far  as 
their  circumstances  will  allow,  and  with  every  thing  else  necessary  for 
his  continuing  his  journey,  and  reaching  the  place  of  his  destination. 
Such  are  those  people,  or  at  least  such  did  they  appear  to  me,  in  ail 


86  Fropagation  of  Christianity 

under  the  care  of  a  pious  man;  but  on  his  arrival  in  Holland, 
the  East  India  Company,  to  his  inexpressible  grief,  refused 
him  permission  to  return,  some  persons  having  foolishly  in- 
sinuated, that  the  conversion  of  the  Hottentots  would  injure 
the  interests  of  the  colony.  His  little  congregation,  howev- 
er, kept  together  for  some  time,  in  earnest  expectation  of  the 
return  of  their  beloved  teacher.  They  used  to  meet  togeth- 
er, it  appears,  and  read  a  Dutch  Bible  he  had  left  among 
them.  Even  so  late  as  1786,  some  of  the  Brethren  who 
touched  at  the  Cape  in  their  way  from  the  East  Indies,  saw 
an  Hottentot  woman  baptized  by  Schmidt,  who  had  a  Dutch 
Bible  which  she  received  from  him,  and  who  expressed  an 
ardent  desire  for  the  renewal  of  the  mission.  A  new  ap- 
plication was  therefore  made  to  the  East  India  Company  for 
permission  to  send  missionaries  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope; 
and  though  former  applications  of  the  same  kind  had  uni- 
formly failed,  the  present  happily  succeeded,  and  according- 
ly  measures  were  immediately  taken  to  carry  the  proposal 
into  execution.* 

In  1792,  three  of  the  Brethren,  Hendrick  Marsveld,  Dan^ 

*  Pei-iodical  Accounts,  122,  166. 

llic  innocence  of  manners  and  of  a  pastoral  life.  They  excite  the  idea 
of  mankind  in  a  state  of  infancy. 

"  This  favourable  character  of  the  Hottentots  in  general  is  confirmed 
by  Mr.  Barrow,  Avho  says  of  them  "  Ioav  as  they  are  sunk  in  the  scale 
of  hmnanity,  their  character  seems  to  have  been  much  traduced  and 
misrepresented.  It  is  true  there  is  nothing  prepossessing-  in  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  Hottentot,  but  infinitely  less  so  in  the  many  ridiculous 
and  false  relations  by  which  the  public  have  been  abused.  They  are  a 
mild,  quiet  and  timid  people;  perfectly  harmless,  honest,  faithful;  and 
though  extremely  phlegmatic,  they  are  kind  and  afiectionate  to  each 
other,  and  not  incapable  of  strong  attachments.  A  Hottentot  v  ould 
share  his  last  morsel  with  his  companions.  They  have  little  of  that  kind 
of  art  or  cunning  that  savages  generally  possess.  If  accused  of  crimes 
of  which  they  have  been  guilty,  they  generally  divulge  the  truth.  They 
seldom  quarrel  among  themselves  or  make  use  of  provoking  language. 
Though  naturally  of  a  fearful  and  cowardly  disposition,  they  will  run 
into  the  face  of  danger,  if  led  ca  by  t!»eir  superiors;  and  they  suffer  pain 
with  great  patience.  They  are  by  no  means  deficient  in  talent,  but  they 
possess  little  exertion  to  call  it  into  action;  the  want  of  which  has  been 
the  principal  cause  of  their  ruin." 


by  the  United  Brethren,  87 

id  Schwinn,  and  John  Christian  Kuehnel,  sailed  for  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  with  the  view  of  renewing  the  mission  in 
that  colony.  On  their  arrival,  they  met  with  a  very  friend- 
ly reception  from  the  governor,  and  many  other  persons  of 
the  first  respectability;  but  by  the  Dutch  Boors,  a  base 
worthless  race  of  men,  they  were  regarded  almost  as  a  spe- 
cies of  monsters.  Alarmed  at  the  idea  of  their  instructing 
the  Hottentots,  some  of  these  miscreants  proposed  that  the 
Brethren  should  immediately  be  put  to  death;  and  they,  at 
the  same  time,  endeavoured  to  prejudice  the  poor  creatures 
against  them,  by  circulating  the  most  frightful  reports  con- 
cerning them;  "  They  will  treat  you  very  kindly  at  first," 
said  they,  "  but  if  you  listen  to  them,  more  of  them  will 
come,  and  then  they  will  seize  on  you  and  send  you  as  salves 
to  Batavia." — "  Only  wait  a  little,"  said  a  constable  to  two 
Hottentots  whom  he  met  on  the  road,  "  you  will  be  well 
thwacked  by  them.  I  have  heard  that  they  beat  their  scho- 
lars most  unmercifully,  and  have  brought  a  whole  chest  of 
bamboos  with  them  for  that  purpose."  It  was  afterwards 
reported  that  the  missionaries  taught  the  Hottentots  to  steal, 
to  murder,  and  to  commit  other  similar  attrocious  crimes.* 
As  they  were  recommended  to  establish  their  first  settle- 
ment at  Bavian's  Kloof,  about  a  hundred  and  thirty  miles 
east  of  Capetown,  the  Brethren  proceeded  to  visit  that  part 
of  the  country  without  delay.  It  was  the  very  place  v/hcre 
George  Schmidt  had  resided,  and  on  their  arrival  the  spot 
was  pointed  out  to  them  where  his  house  had  stood.  A 
large  piece  of  the  wall  was  still  standing,  in  the  garden  were 
several  fruit  trees,  and  here  and  there  appeared  some  ruins  of 
walls,  the  remains  of  the  Hottentots'  cottages.  Having 
heard  that  a  woman  was  still  alive  who  had  been  baptized  by 
him,  they  enquired  for  her;  upon  which  some  went  to  her 
hut  and  led  her  forward,  for  she  was  now  so  old  and  feeble, 
that  she  could  not  walk  by  herself.  She  acknowledged  that 
she  had  forgot  all  she  had  learned  from  him,  and,   indeed, 

•  Period.  Accounts,  vol,  i.  p.  1G5,  271,  2r6,  291, 


38  Propagation  of  Christianity 

she  appeared  as  ignorant  as  the  rest;  but  she  mentioned  that 
she  had  still  a  book  in  her  possession,  which  she  had  receiv- 
ed from  him.  It  proved  to  be  a  Dutch  New  Testament,  and 
was  carefully  inclosed  in  a  leather  bag  wrapped  in  two  sheep 
skins.  She  could  formerly  read  it,  but  now  she  was  almost 
blind;  another  woman,  however,  who  had  learned  to  read 
from  one  of  Schmidt's  converts,  read  it  to  her.* 

Having  fixed  on  this  spot  for  a  settlement,  and  received  a 
grant  of  it  from  the  Dutch  government,  the  Brethren  pro- 
ceeded to  build  a  house  for  their  accommodation,  with  the 
assistance  of  some  of  the  neighbouring  Hottentots,  whom 
they  engaged  for  this  purpose.  Notwithstanding  the  keen 
opposition  of  the  Boors,  who  often  attempted  to  detain  them 
by  force,  these  poo '  oppressed  people  collected  to  this  place 
in  considerable  numbers,  and  it  was  truly  astonishing  to  be- 
hold the  attention  and  earnestness  with  which  they  listened 
to  the  news  of  salvation.  They  looked  as  if  they  would 
drink  up  the  words  which  flowed  from  the  lips  of  their  teach- 
ers; and  many  of  tliem,  when  they  heard  of  the  love  and  suf- 
fering of  the  Redeemer,  were  so  much  affected  as  to  burst 
into  tears.  Such  reverential  silence,  such  solemn  devotion, 
appeared  among  them,  as  are  rarely  to  be  seen  in  Christian 
assemblies.! 

In  October  1794,  the  number  of  Hottentots  who  lived 
with  the  Brethren  had  so  much  increased,  that  there  were 
sometimes  near  two  hundred  present  at  their  meetings,  sev- 
eral of  whom  had  already  been  baptized  as  the  first  fruits  of 
the  mission.  Besides  instructing  them  in  the  principles  of  re- 
lip^ion,  the  missionaries  had  opened  a  school  for  teaching  them 
to  read  the  Dutch  language.  It  was  divided  into  three  clas- 
ses; the  men's  class  containing  thirty  scholars,  the  women's 
seventy,  and  the  children's  seventy,  in  all  one  hundred  and 
seventy.  In  fine  weather  the  school  for  the  women  and 
children  used  to  meet  in  the  open  air,  under  the  shade   of 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vo.  i.  p.  273,  276,  27S,  285. 
t  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  245,  282,  294,  305,  307. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  89 

a  large  pear  tree  in  the  garden,  which  was  supposed  to  have 
been  planted  by  the  venerable  George  Schmidt.* 

Alarmed  at  the  progress  of  the  Brethren,  the  neighbour- 
ing farmers  renewed  their  opposition  to  their  labours;  and 
with  the  view  of  dispersing  the  Hottentots,  they  represented 
to  the  Dutch  government  that  their  cattle  were  so  numerous, 
the  country  could  not  support  them,  and  that  there  was  a  ne- 
cessity for  driving  them  back  to  the  places  from  whence 
they  came.  This  statement,  however,  was  perfectly  false. 
The  whole  stock  of  the  settlement  at  that  period  consisted 
only  of  one  horse,  five  oxen,  five  cows,  two  calves,  two  sheep, 
and  a  hundred  goats.  Misled,  however,  by  the  representa- 
tions of  the  Boors,  the  government  at  the  Cape  issued  or- 
ders to  the  Hottentots  to  drive  back  their  cattle  to  their  for- 
mer places  of  abode.  This  filled  them,  as  well  as  the  mis- 
sionaries, with  inexpressible  concern;  yet  many  of  them  de- 
clared, in  the  strongest  terms,  that  they  would  not  forsake 
their  teachers,  let  the  consequences  be  what  they  would. 
Happily  the  triumph  of  their  enemies  was  of  short  duration. 
A  gentleman  from  the  Cape,  who  visited  the  settlement  soon 
after,  informed  the  government,  on  his  return,  that  the  state- 
ment of  the  farmers  was  so  far  from  being  correct,  that  at 
least  five  hundred  head  of  cattle  might  be  maintained  on  the 
ground.  In  consequence  of  this  information,  the  commis- 
sary revoked  the  order  for  the  removal  of  the  Hottentots' 
cattle,  and  that  gentleman  purchased  the  land,  chiefly,  as  he 
said,  with  a  view  to  the  security  of  the  mission. | 

Being  frustrated  in  this  attempt,  upwards  of  a  hundred  of 
the  Boors  rose  in  arms,  determined  to  obtain,  by  force,  a  redress 
of  their  various  grievances,  among  which  the  instruction  of 
the  Hottentots  was  not  forgotten.  For  several  \veeks  reports 
of  the  most  frightful  nature  daily  reached  the  missionaries, 
and  kept  them  in  a  stiite  of  constant  alarm.  One  day,  it  was 
said  that  a  troop  of  the  insurgents  was  to  come  to  the  set- 
tlement, to  take  them  prisoners,  and  send  them  to  Batavia; 

*  Period,  Accounts,  vol.  i.  p.  294,  316.         |  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  5, 19. 

VOL.  ir,  M 


90  Propagation  of  Christianity 

another  day  it  was  reported  that  many  of  the  farmers  who 
would  not  join  the  rebels,  had  fled  for  safety  to  the  Cape,  as 
the  latter  threatened  to  put  to  death  all  who  refused  to  assist 
them.  One  day,  it  was  said  that  the  enemy  designed  first 
to  come  and  set  fire  to  Bavian's  Kloof,  and  then  to  march 
to  the  Cape;  and  on  the  following  day,  report  succeeded  re- 
port that  they  were  on  their  way  to  the  settlement,  and  were 
already  fast  approaching.  Alarmed  by  this  rumour,  the 
Christian  Hottentots  flocked  together,  crying,  "  O  that  they 
would  but  spare  our  teachers!"  and  they  declared,  at  the 
same  time,  that  if  the  Brethren  fled,  they  would  all  fly  with 
them,  and  if  they  resolved  to  stay,  they  also  would  remain 
and  die  with  them.  But  as  the  missionaries  perceived  that 
many  of  them  were  greatly  terrified,  and  stopped  merely  for 
their  sakes,  they  told  them  not  to  remain  on  their  account, 
but  that  each  should  act  as  he  judged  best  himself.  Num- 
bers of  them,  particularly  the  women  and  children,  now  fled 
to  the  mountains,  and  hid  themselves  among  the  rocks  and 
bushes.  Before  leaving  the  settlement,  they  came  to  take 
farewell  of  their  teachers.  It  was  truly  an  aft'ecting  scene.  The 
poor  creatures,  overwhelmed  with  grief,  burst  into  cries  and 
tears,  and  at  last  the  missionaries  were  likewise  so  overcome, 
that  they  could  scarcely  bear  to  notice  them  any  longer.* 
The  nationals,  as  the  insurgents  styled  themselves,  after 
the  example  of  their  revolutionary  brethren  in  Europe,  re- 
treated at  that  time;  but  a  troop  of  them  returned  two  days 
after,  and  sent  notice  to  the  Brethren  at  Bavian's  Kloof,  that 
they  were  assembled  at  such  a  place,  and  that,  if  the  mis- 
sionaries wished  to  know  what  they  had  determined  con- 
cerning the  school,  they  might  come  thither.  Anxious  to 
bring  matters  to  an  accommodation,  or  at  least  to  learn  with 
certainty  the  views  of  their  enemies,  one  of  the  Brethren  ven- 
tured to  go  to  the  place  appointed,  and  on  his  arrival  he  found 
that  some  of  the  articles  of  their  memorial  to  government 
were  to  the  following  effect: 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  \>.  26. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  91 

"  That  they  would  allow  no  Moravians  to  live  in  the  coun- 
try  and  instruct  the  Hottentots;  for  as  there  were  many 
Christians  in  the  colony  who  received  no  education,  it  was 
not  propf  r  that  the  Hottentots  should  be  made  wiser  than 
them,  but  that  they  should  remain  in  the  same  state  as  before. 

"  That  the  Hottentots  should  live  among  the  farmers,  and 
not  collect  together  at  Bavian's  Kloof. 

"That  such  Hottentots  as  were  born  on  a  farmer's  land 
should  serve  him  until  they  were  twenty- five  years  of  age, 
before  they  received  wages. 

"  That  all  Boscliemen*  caught  by  the  colonists  should  re- 
main their  slaves  for  life. 

"  That  it  was  never  meant  the  Moravians  should  be  em- 
ployed among  the  Hottentots,  but  among  the  Boschemen.'*f 

Such  were  some  of  the  resolutions  which  these  fierce  in- 
surgents had  passed  in  the  name  of  liberty  and  equality!  A 
troop  of  them  were  actually  on  their  march  to  Bavian's  Kloof, 
to  destroy  the  Brethren's  school,  but  being  met  on  the  road 
by  a  deputy  from  government,  with  terms  of  accommoda- 
tion, they  returned  to  consult  with  their  comrades,  threat- 
ening, however,  soon  to  renew  the  visit.  A  few  days  af- 
ter, the  Brethren  observed  two  horsemen  riding  towards 
dieir  house,  but  their  apprehensions  were  soon  dispelled,  as 
they  discovered  them  to  be  persons  of  their  acquaintance. 
They  were  the  messengers,  however,  of  evil  tidings.  After 
remaining  silent  for  sometime,  one  of  them  informed  the 
missionaries  that  they  brought  an  order  to  them  from  the 
commandant  Pissani,  to  quit  the  place  within  three  days, 
and  to  go  either  to  Capetown,  or  to  some  other  part  of  the 
country  inhabited  by  Dutch  citizens,  on  pain  of  being  se- 
verely punished  in  case  of  disobedience.     The  Brethren 

t  Porlod.  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  33. 

*  A  savage  people  of  the  Hottentot  race  who  inhabit  the  colony, 
and  from  the  circumstance  of  their  lurking  among  the  bushes,  from 
whence  they  shoot  travellers  with  their  poisoned  arrows,  are  called 
Bpschemen,  or  Bushmen. 


92  Propagation  of  Christiamty 

were  thunderstruck  at  this  intelligence,  and  asked  what  they 
had  done  to  merit  such  treatment.  To  this  the  other  repli- 
ed, he  knew  nothing  of  the  matter  but  a  party  of  eight  men 
had  arrived  at  his  house,  and  commanded  him  to  repair  to 
them  with  that  order,  and  that  Pissani  himself  was  marching 
behind  the  mountains,  to  the  Cape,  at  the  head  of  eight  hun- 
dred men.  These  painful  tidings  flew  like  lightning  among 
the  Hottentots  who  still  remained  in  the  settlement.  Old 
and  young  flocked  to  the  Brethren's  house,  lamenting  their 
departure  with  a  thousand  tears.  Resistance,  however,  was 
Vain,  and  even  delay  might  be  dangerous.* 

Having  employed  the  following  day  in  loading  two  wag- 
gons with  their  goods,  the  missionaries  prepared  to  follow, 
in  a  cart  drawn  by  ten  oxen,  into  which  they  put  such  ar- 
ticles as  might  be  necessary  on  the  journey.  Early  next 
morning,  all  the  Hottentots  assembled  before  their  house, 
and  it  was  with  difficulty  they  were  persuaded  to  stay  at 
home,  for  many  of  them  positively  declared  they  would  go 
and  die  with  their  teachers.  Having  committed  their  house 
and  garden  to  the  care  of  some  of  the  baptized,  the  Breth- 
ren left  their  beloved  congregation  with  a  sorrowful  heart, 
yet  not  without  a  secret  hope  of  soon  returning  to  them. 
In  this  expectation  they  were  not  disappointed.  On  their 
arrival  at  Capetown,  they  waited  on  the  governor,  and  on 
informing  him  of  what  had  happened,  he  expressed  his  as- 
tonishment at  the  presumption  and  arrogance  of  Pissani,  but 
added,  they  had  acted  wisely  in  obeying  his  orders,  for  as 
the  insurgents  were  exceedingly  enraged,  they  might  have 
proceeded  to  extremities,  in  case  of  resistance.  By  his  per- 
mission they  immediately  returned  to  Bavian's  Kloof, 
where  they  were  received  by  the  poor  forlorn  Hottentots 
with  tears  of  joy. f 

In  August  1795,  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  was  taken  by 
the  British  forces  under  the  command  of  general  Craig;  and 
as  the  mission  was  still  an  object  of  hatred  among  the  far- 

*  Period,  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  33.  1  H'id.  vol.  ii.  ]>.  ?>!i. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  93 

mers,  the  Brethren  soon  after  sent  Marsvelcl,  one  of  their 
number,  to  wait  on  his  excellency,  and  to  request  his  pro- 
tection for  themselves  and  their  people.  The  late  Dutch 
governor,  it  appears,  had  recommended  them  to  the  Eng- 
lish commander;  and,  accordingly,  when  Marsveld,  waited 
upon  him,  he  returned  him  a  very  friendly  answer,  saying, 
that  they  should  continue  their  labours,  and  might  rest  as- 
sured of  his  favour  and  protection.  He  soon  after  gave 
them  liberty  to  cut  timber  for  building  a  chapel;  and  in  va- 
rious instances  shewed  himself  favourable  to  the  mission.* 

It  was  not  long,  indeed,  before  the  Brethren  experienced 
a  new  instance  of  the  gracious  care  of  Providence  over  them, 
and  of  the  friendship  of  the  English  commander.  Some 
of  the  neighbouring  farmers  had  collected  together  upwards 
of  a  hundred  armed  men,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  their 
late  barbarous  resolution  into  execution,  by  one  bold  deci- 
sive blow.  Their  rendevouz  was  at  the  house  of  a  man  in 
the  vicinity,  who  at  lirst  had  been  extremely  friendly  to  the 
missionaries,  but  was  now  one  of  the  most  determined  en- 
emies.  They  were  already  assembled  at  this  place,  when  a 
message  was  delivered  to  them  from  the  English  general, 
who  had  received  notice  of  their  design,  that  if  any  outrage 
was  committed  on  the  missionaries,  the  perpetrators  of  it 
should  assuredly  be  brought  to  justice,  and  punished  in  the 
severest  manner.  Finding  their  design  discovered,  and  the 
government  determined  to  punish  them,  the  conspirators 
quitted  their  leader  and  dispersed  to  their  homes,  without 
molesting  the  missionaries.! 

By  degrees,  the  hostility  of  the  farmers  to  the  missionaries 
began  to  subside,  not  indeed  from  any  satisfaction  which 
they  took  in  the  improvement  of  the  Hottentots,  but  merely 
from  discovering  that  it  might  be  turned  to  their  own  ad- 
vantage. ^Vhen  the  Brethren  w  ere  erecting  a  smith's  shop 
in  the  settlement,  some  of  the  neighbouring  Boors  were  not 
only  displeased,  but  agreed  never  to  purshase  a  single  article 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  42,  44,  47.        f  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  82. 


94  Propagation  of  Christianity 

from  them,  nor  to  give  them  any  work;  yet  scarcely  was  the 
building  completed,  when  several  of  these  very  persons  came 
for  knives  and  other  articles;  and  some,  when  ihey  had  pur- 
chased  them  at  a  moderate  price,  carried  them  to  Cape-town 
and  other  places,  and  sold  them  for  more  than  double  the 
sum.  Similar  to  this  was  their  conduct  with  regard  to  pro- 
visions. Having  failed  in  destroying  the  settlement  by  open 
violence,  they  threatened  that  they  would  starve  the  mis- 
sionaries and  their  people  out  of  the  country.  Accordingly, 
when  the  Brethren  were  building  their  mill,  and  required  a 
•  considerable  supply  of  corn,  salt,  wine,  and  other  articles,  on 
account  of  the  number  of  hands  they  employed,  the  farmers 
carried  their  threats  into  execution  for  some  time,  and  dis- 
tressed them  not  a  little  for  want  of  provisions.  But  at 
length  these  very  persons  brought  them  as  large  supplies  as 
they  needed;  and  even  one  of  those  who  had  conspired  to 
destroy  the  place,  sent  a  waggon  with  corn  to  the  settlement, 
at  a  season  when  it  brought  the  highest  price,  and  sold  it 
cheaper  than  they  expected  to  have  found  it  in  the  country. 
Most  of  them,  indeed,  were  convinced,  by  experience,  that 
the  gospel  was  beneficial  to  the  temporal  as  well  as  to  the 
spiritual  interests  of  the  colony,  and  now  preferred  employ- 
ing Christian  rather  than  Pagan  Hottentots  in  their  service. 
This  was  so  much  the  case,  that  it  became  a  common  prac- 
tice with  the  Hottentots  to  represent  themselves  as  inhabi- 
tants of  Bavian's  Kloof,  thougli,  perhaps,  they  had  never  seen 
the  place;  and  as  they  often  disgraced  themselves  by  their 
ill  conduct,  the  Brethren,  in  order  to  prevent  such  imposi- 
tions, found  it  necessary  to  give  certificates  to  their  people 
when  they  went  to  labour  witli  the  farmers.* 

The  settlement  of  the  Brethren  at  Bavian's  Kloof  was 
now  an  object  of  general  curiosity  in  the  country,  particular- 
ly to  the  inhabitants  of  Cape-town,  many  of  whom  came 
thither  as  to  a  place  of  fashionable  resort,  and  were  no  less 
pleased  than  astonished  to  see  the  vast  improvement  which 

»  Periodical  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  183,  188,  244;  v.ol.  iv.  p.  33. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  95 

had  been  effected  on  the  character  and  habits  of  the  Hotten- 
tots, whom  they  had  been  accustomed  to  consider  as  among 
the  most  degraded  of  the  human  race.*  Among  these  visi- 
tors was  Mr.  Barrow,  the  traveller,  who  has '  given  us  the 
following  interesting  account  of  the  state  of  the  settlement 
about  the  end  of  the  year  1 797. 

"  Proceeding  up  the  valley  through  which  the  Endless 
River  meanders,  we  halted  late  in  the  evening  at  a  place  call- 
ed Bavian's  Kloof,  where  there  is  a  small  establishment  of 
Moravian  missionaries.  Early  next  morning  I  was  awaken- 
ed by  some  of  the  finest  voices  I  had  ever  heard,  and  on 
looking  out,  saw  a  group  of  female  Hottentots  sitting  on  the 
ground.  It  was  Sunday,  and  they  had  assembled  thus  early 
to  chaunt  the  morning  hymn.  They  were  all  neatly  dressed 
in  printed  cotton  gowns.  A  sight  so  very  different  from 
what  we  had  hitherto  been  in  the  habit  of  observing  with  re- 
gard to  this  unhappy  class  of  beings,  could  not  fail  of  proving 
grateful,  and  at  the  same  time  it  excited  a  degree  of  curiosi- 
ty as  to  the  nature  of  the  establishment.  The  good  fathers, 
who  were  three  in  number,  were  well  disposed  to  satisfy 
every  question  put  to  them.  They  were  men  of  the  middle 
age,  plain  and  decent  in  their  dress,  cleanly  in  their  persons, 
of  modest  manners,  meek  and  humble  in  their  deportment, 
but  intelligent  and  lively  in  conversation,  zealous  in  the  cause 
of  their  mission,  yet  free  from  bigotry  or  enthusiasm.  Every 
thing  in  the  place  partook  of  that  neatness  and  simplicity, 
which  were  the  strongest  features  in  the  outline  of  their 
character.  The  church  they  had  constructed  was  a  plain 
neat  building,  their  mill  for  grinding  corn,  was  superior  to 
any  in  the  colony;  their  garden  was  in  high  order,  and  pro- 
duced abundance  of  vegetables  for  the  use  of  the  table.  Al- 
most every  thing  that  had  been  done  was  the  work  of  their 
own  hands.  Agreeably  to  the  rules  of  the  society  of  which 
they  were  members,  each  of  them  had  learned  some  useful 

*  Periodical  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  1S4. 


96  Propagation  of  Christianity 

profession.  One  was  skilled  in  every  branch  of  smith's  work, 
the  second  was  a  shoemaker,  and  the  third  a  tailor. 

"  These  missionaries  have  succeeded  in  bringing  together 
in  one  society,  upwards  of  six  hundred  Hottentots,  and 
their  numbers  are  daily  increasing.  These  live  in  small 
huts  dispersed  over  the  valley,  to  each  of  which  was  attach- 
ed a  piece  of  ground  for  raising  vegetables,  and  their  houses 
and  gardens  were  very  neat  and  comfortable;  numbers  of 
the  poor  in  England  not  so  good,  and  few  better.  Those 
Hottentots  who  chose  to  learn  the  respective  trades  of  the 
missionaries;  were  paid  for  their  labour  as  soon  as  they  could 
earn  wages.  Some  hired  themselves  out  by  the  week,  month, 
or  year  to  the  neighbouring  peasantry,  others  made  mats  and 
brooms  for  sale;  some  bred  poultry,  and  others  found  means 
to  subsist  by  their  cattle,  sheep,  and  horses.  Many  of  the 
women  and  children  of  the  soldiers  belonging  to  the  Hotten- 
tot corps,  reside  at  Bavian's  Kloof,  where  they  are  much 
more  likely  to  acquire  industrious  habits  than  by  remaining 
in  the  camp. 

"  On  Sundays  they  all  regularly  attend  the  performance 
of  divine  service,  and  it  is  astonishing  how  ambitious  they 
are  to  appear  at  church  neat  and  clean.  Of  about  three  hun- 
dred that  composed  the  congregation,  about  half  were  dress- 
ed in  coarse  printed  cottons,  and  the  other  half  in  the  an- 
cient sheep's  skin  dresses;  and  it  appeared  on  enquiry,  that 
the  former  were  the  first  who  had  been  brought  within  the 
pale  of  the  church;  a  proof  that  their  external  circumstances 
at  least  had  suffered  nothing  from  their  change  of  life.  Per- 
suasion and  example  had  convinced  them,  that  cleanliness 
in  their  persons,  not  only  added  much  to  the  comforts  of  life, 
but  was  one  of  the  greatest  preservatives  of  health,  and  that 
the  little  trifles  of  money  they  had  to  spare,  was  much  better 
applied  in  procuring  decent  covering  for  the  body,  than  in 
the  purchase  of  spirits  and  tobacco,  articles  so  far  from  being 
necessaries,  that  they  might  justly  be  considered  as  the  most 
pernicious  evils. 


by  the  United  Brethren,  97 

*'  The  deportment  of  the  Hottentot  congregation  during 
divine  service  was  truly  devout.  The  discourse  delivered  by 
one  of  the  fathers  was  short,  but  full  of  good  sense,  pathetic, 
and  well  suited  to  the  occasion.  Tears  flowed  abundantly 
from  the  eyes  of  those  to  whom  it  was  particularly  address- 
ed. The  females  sung  in  a  style  that  was  plaintive  and  af- 
fecting, and  their  voices  were  in  general  sweet  and  harmoni- 
ous."-* 

Mr.  Barrow  mentions  various  other  circumstances  relative 
to  the  Brethren's  settlement  at  Bavian's  Kloof;  but  as  in 
some  instances  he  has  already  been  anticipated,  and  as  in 
others  he  is  not  perfectly  correct,  we  think  it  unnecessary  to 
notice  them. 

About  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  Breth- 
ren's settlement  was  visited  by  a  fever  of  a  bilious  nature, 
which  generally  makes  its  appearance  in  the  colony  every 
five  or  six  years,  spreads  over  the  whole  country,  and  com- 
mits terrible  havock  both  among  the  Hottentots  and  the 
white  people.  In  the  present  instance,  scarcely  a  house  was 
free  from  it;  and  when  it  once  enters  a  family,  not  an  indi- 
vidual escapes.  With  the  view  of  attending  to  the  poor 
creatures  as  carefully  as  possible,  the  Brethren  agreed  that 
each  of  them  should  take  his  week  in  visiting  the  sick  in 
certain  divisions.  By  this  arrangement,  every  missionary 
and  his  wife  had  daily  fifty  or  sixty  patients  to  see,  and  to 
afford  them  what  assistance  was  in  their  power,  both  tempo- 
ral and  spiritual.  In  this  work,  they  had  to  make  a  circuit 
of  four  or  five  miles;  and  as  three,  four,  or  even  more  per- 
sons, often  lay  ill  in  the  same  house,  it  was  not  only  a  very 
laborious,  but  a  dangerous  service.  When  they  crept  into 
the  Hottentots'  kraals,  and  beheld  the  poor  creatures  lying 
sick  on  a  sheep's  skin  spread  on  the  bai'e  ground,  without 
medical  aid,  and  o^ten  without  a  morsel  to  eat,  while,  per- 
haps, a  number  of  naked  helpless  children  lay  around  them, 
crying  for  hunger,  their  hearts  were  ready  to  sink  in  despon- 

•  Barrow's  Travels  in  Southern  AfrLoa,  vol.  i,  35t. 
VOL.  ir.  N 


98  Propagation  of  Christianity 

dency  and  sorrow  at  the  melancholy  scene;  but  when  they 
spoke  to  them  of  the  love  of  Christ,  when  they  saw  with 
what  eagerness  they  listened  to  the  news  of  salvation,  when 
they  beheld  them  weep  for  joy  in  extolling  the  loving  kind- 
ness of  God  in  sending  the  gospel  to  them,  their  hearts  were 
elevated  with  gratitude  and  praise.  The  Brethren  exerted 
themselves  to  the  utmost  of  their  power  to  procure  them  a 
little  food  and  medicine;  but  as  the  number  of  objects  was 
so  great,  it  was  not  possible  for  them  to  supply  them  alL 
After  some  months,  however,  during  which  they  often  buried 
six,  ten,  and  even  twelve  corpses  a- week,  the  disease  greatly 
abated,  and  at  length  disappeared  from  the  country.* 

Though  the  missionaries  and  their  people  were  no  longer 
m  danger  of  being  murdered  by  the  farmers,  yet  they  were 
not  altogether  unmolested  by  them.    About  this  time,  one 
or  two  of  these  miscreants  seized  on  a  tract  of  excellent  pas- 
ture land  belonging  to  the  Hottentots,  which  they  had  im- 
proved  and  fertilized  with  great  labour.     This  cruel  en- 
croachment the   Brethren  were  determined   to  resist:  but 
notwithstanding  the  justice   of  their  cause,  it  occasioned 
them  a  good  deal  of  trouble.     Once,  however,  when  they 
were  at  the  Cape  on  this  errand,  Mr.  Rhynefeld,  the  fiscal, 
or  justice  of  the  peace,  bore  the  following  honourable  testi- 
mony to  the  importance  and  utility  of  their  labours:  "  The 
mission  at  Bavian's  Kloof,"  said  he,  "  had  now  existed  for 
ten  years,  and  though  about  a  thousand  Hottentots  were  now 
collected  in  that  place,  yet  they  were  so  distinguished   by 
their  sober  and  orderly  behaviour,  that  he  had  never  receiv- 
ed any  complaints  from  that  quarter.  They  did  not,  in  fact, 
need  a  fiscal,  though  in  other  places  where  three   hundred 
people  lived  together,  a  justice  of  the  peace  had  enough  to 
do.  In  the  late  season  of  famine,  sickness,  and  mortality, 
no  relief  had  been  granted  to  the  Hottentots  of  Bavian's 
Kloof:  the  missionaries  alone  had  borne  the  burden.     The 
more,  therefore,  they  deserved  of  humanity,  the  more  unjust 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iii.  p,  23,  25,  26. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  99 

were  the  encroachments  made  upon  them."  The  British 
government  at  the  Cape,  in  the  decision  which  they  passed 
on  the  subject,  endeavoured  to  combine  justice  to  the  Hot- 
tentots with  lenity  to  the  farmers;  reinstating  the  former  in 
most  of  their  lawful  possessions,  but  yet  leaving  a  part  in  the 
hands  of  the  latter,  as  it  could  not  be  restored  without  a  ma- 
terial loss  to  them;  and  as  an  indemnification  for  this,  the 
government  granted  the  Hottentots  a  further  tract  of  land, 
and  even  appropriated  a  sum  of  money  to  assist  them  in 
draining  and  cultivating  it.  This  new  land  being  situated  in 
a  valley,  was  subject  to  inundations;  but  the  Brethren  hoped 
to  remedy  this  inconvenience,  by  cutting  two  broad  and 
deep  ditches,  one  of  them  near  three  miles  in  length.  In 
this  expectation,  however,  they  were  disappointed;  for,  after 
cutting  a  canal  to  carry,  off  the  torrents  which  pour  down 
from  the  neighbouring  mountains,  they  found  it  was  impos- 
sible to  secure  the  ground  from  inundations.* 

In  1802,  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  was  restored  to  the 
Dutch  by  the  peace  of  Amiens;  and  the  new  government 
began  soon  after  to  raise  a  corps  of  Hottentots  for  the  defence 
of  the  colony.  Among  these  were  about  thirty  of  the  in- 
habitants of  Bavian's  Kloof,  who  were  so  distinguished  by 
their  good  behaviour,  that  they  were  all  appointed  corporals. 
The  captain  bore  honourable  testimony  to  their  conduct, 
and  observed,  that  while  others  employed  their  leisure  hours 
in  idleness  and  folly,  they  met  together  to  sing  hymns  and  to 
converse  about  spiritual  things.  Having  been  desired  by 
their  officers  to  declare,  whether  they  were  satisfied  with  their 
treatment;  they  replied  in  the  affirmative,  only,  they  said, 
there  was  one  circumstance  they  found  hard  to  bear,  the 
continual  swearing  of  the  soldiers,  a  thing  they  had  never 
been  accustomed  to  before.  With  the  view  of  promoting 
their  spiritual  interests,  as  well  as  of  affi^rding  the  other  Hot- 
tentots the  means  of  instruction,  one  of  the  Brethren  was 
sent  by  desire  of  government,  to  attend  them  in  the  camp 

*  Pmod,  Accounts,  vol.  lii.  p.  98,  278,  217;  vol.  iv.  p.  328. 


100  Propagation  of  Christianity 

near  Cape-town.  During  his  stay  with  them,  he  not  only- 
preached  to  a  large  congregation  on  the  Sabbath,  but  he 
kept  a  school  both  with  the  adults  and  children  during  the 
week.* 

Soon  after  the  Cape  was  restored  to  the  Dutch,  the  com- 
missary-general De  Mist  undertook  a  journey  through  the 
colony,  with  the  view  of  inquiring  into  the  state  of  the 
country,  and  particularly  the  causes  of  those  distractions 
under  which  it  had  long  laboured.  Among  his  attendants 
was  Dr.  Lichtenstein,  who,  though  a  violent  and  ignorant 
declaimer  against  other  missionary  institutions,  has  given  a 
tolerably  fair  account  of  the  settlement  of  the  Brethren  at 
Bavian's  Kloof.  As  it  may  be  considered  as  the  testimony  of 
an  enemy  of  missions  to  the  utility  of  their  labours,  we  shall 
here  introduce  such  parts  of  it  as  are  interesting  and  at  the 
same  time  not  erroneous.  "After  we  had  rested  a  short 
time,"  says  he,  "  we  were  carried  to  a  table  extremely  well 
set  out,  and  all  prepared  by  the  good  wives  themselves,  every 
one  in  her  proper  department.  Instead  of  a  prayer  before  the 
meal,  the  five  couple  sung  a  verse  .of  a  hymn,  and  then  with 
the  utmost  cheerfulness,  and  in  a  style  equally  removed  from 
studied  seriousness  and  from  frivolity,  entered  into  conver- 
sation with  us.  This  was  carried  on  in  a  manner  which  shew- 
ed so  much  correctness  of  thinking,  and  soundness  of  under- 
standing, that  our  good  opinion  of  them  was  increased  every 
moment:  we  were  so  well  entertained,  that  we  did  not  break 
up  the  party  till  near  midnight. 

*'  The  next  morning  the  different  parts  of  the  institution 
were  shewn  to  us;  the  church  in  the  first  place.  It  is  a 
simple,  neat  quadrangular  edifice,  but  the  roof  is  too  steep, 
and  carried  up  to  too  sharp  a  ridge;  this  was  done  to  give 
height  to  the  building,  and  render  it  more  conspicuous. 
Within  are  two  rows  of  benches  and  a  simple  pulpit;  the 
utmost  simplicity  is,  indeed,  observable  in  every  part  of 
the  building,  but  at  the  same  time  the  due  proportions  are. 

•  Periodical  Accounts,  Tol.  ili.  p.  432, 48S,  495,  507;  vol.  iv.  p,  49. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  101 

exceedingly  well  observed,  and  the  workmanship  is  extreme- 
ly neat.  The  timbers  are  all  of  sumach  wood,  the  yellow 
tint  and  polish  of  which  give  a  sort  of  simple  elegance  to  the 
appearance  of  the  whole.  The  English  government  gave  the 
Brethren  permission  to  cut  down  as  much  timber  as  they 
wanted  from  the  woods  belonging  to  the  company,  free  of 
expense. 

"By  the  side  of  the  church  is  the  garden  of  the  mission- 
aries, in  the  midst  of  which  stands  the  old  pear  tree  planted 
by  Schmidt  himself,  the  original  founder  of  the  institution; 
benches  are  standing  under  its  shade,  and  this  is  a  favourite 
place  of  resort  among  the  Bretliren.  The  garden  is  two 
hundred  paces  long,  and  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  broad; 
it  is  well  stored  with  all  kinds  of  kitchen  vegetables  and 
pulse,  and  intersected  with  numerous  little  channels,  by 
which  it  is  constantly  well  watered.  Brother  Schwinn,  who 
is  an  excellent  gardener,  has  the  management  of  it.  The 
church  yard  is  directly  behind  it,  and  is  laid  out  exactly  in 
the  manner  of  the  Herrenhutters  in  Germany;  a  walk  divides 
it  in  two,  on  the  right  hand  of  which  lie  the  men,  and  on 
the  left  the  women.  The  graves  follow  each  other  in  regu- 
lar rows,  and  the  utmost  care  is  taken  of  them;  each  has 
over  it  a  little  wooden  cross,  on  which  is  inscribed  the  name 
of  the  deceased,  his  age,  and  the  day  of  his  death.  The 
graves  of  two  children  of  the  Brethren  have  tomb-stones, 
and  those  of  the  Hottentots  that  had  been  baptized  are  dis 
tinguished  from  the  rest. 

"  The  house  inhabited  by  the  Brethren  has,  besides  tlK, 
hall  in  which  they  assemble,  and  where  they  take  their  meals 
two  chambers  for  two  of  the  married  couples,  and  various 
household  conveniences;  the  other  three  couple  lodge  in 
gmall  houses  close  by.  Another  house  is  appropriated  to 
the  manufacture  of  knives,  of  which  Kuehnel  is  the  direc- 
tor, and  which  begins  already  to  be  very  profitable.  Four 
Hottentots  were  employed  in  it,  who,  when  they  first  began 
learning,  had  no  pay;  they  are  now  paid  wages  by  the  day, 


1G2  Propagation  of  Christianity 

and  when  they  are  perfect  in  their  work,  are  to  be  paid  b} 
the  piece.  The  knives  are  strong  and  well  made,  and  are 
much  sought  after  at  Capetown,  though  they  are  dear; 
pocket  knives  sell  from  a  dollar  to  a  dollar  and  a  half.  Kueh- 
nel  complained  much  of  the  want  of  tools,  and  the  difficulty 
of  getting  them  from  Europe,  so  that  he  is  obliged  to  make 
them  almost  all  himself.  Marsveld  is  the  miller,  and  has 
built  a  water-mill  after  the  European  manner,  in  which  he 
grinds  not  only  all  the  corn  for  the  household  and  the  Hot- 
tentots, but  a  great  deal  for  the  neighbouring  colonies. 

"But,  in  order  to  form  a  just  estimate  of  these  excellent 
men,  their  manner  of  conducting  themselves  towards  the 
Hottentots  must  be  seen;  the  mildness,  yet  dignity  with 
which  they  instruct  them;  and  the  effect  which  has  already 
been  produced  in  improving  the  condition  of  their  uncivi- 
lized brethren,  is  trulj''  admirable.  It  is  the  more  astonish- 
ing, since  all  has  been  accomplished  by  persuasion  and  ex- 
hortation; no  violence,  or  even  harshness,  has  been  employ- 
ed. The  men  are  clothed  like  the  peasants,  in  linen  jackets, 
and  leather  small  clothes,  and  wear  hats;  the  women  have 
woollen  petticoats,  cotton  jackets,  Avith  long  sleeves  and  caps. 
The  lower  class  are  still  clothed  in  skins,  but  they  are  made 
to  keep  themselves  and  their  clothing  clean,  and  no  naked- 
ness is  permitted."* 

In  January  1808,  the  earl  of  Caledon,  the  English  gover- 
nor of  the  Cape,  which  had  been  captured  two  years  before 
by  the  British,  made  a  proposal  to  the  Brethren  to  begin  a 
second  settlement  at  a  place  called  Gruenekloof,  which  his 
lorship  offered  to  them  for  that  purpose,  promising,  at  the 
same  time,  to  afford  them  every  assistance  in  the  formation 
of  such  an  establishment.  Having  accepted  of  this  offer, 
the  Brethren,  Kohrhammer  and  Schmitt,  proceeded  to  that 
part  of  the  country,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  a  new  settle- 
ment.    To  this  place  a  number  of  the  Hottentots  collected 

•  Lichlensteln's  Travels  in  Suntheni  Africaj  in  the  vears  1803,  1804,  1805,  and 
180fi,p.l5G. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  103 

together  for  instruction;  and  soon  after  their  arrival,  the  mis- 
sionaries opened  schools  for  the  men,  women,  and  children; 
but  they  quickly  found  tliat  the  people  in  this  quarter  were 
remarkable  for  the  depravity  of  their  manners,  and  that 
among-  their  many  vices,  dissimulation  was  not  the  least.* 

The  Brethren  had  not  been  long  in  this  part  of  the  coun- 
try,  when  a  circumstance  occurred  which  threw  them  into 
no  small  consternation  and  alarm.     One  afternoon,  a  man 
arrived  at  the  settlement,  pretending  to  be  an  English  naval 
ofiicer,  and  that  he  had  narrowly  escaped  from  a  horde  of  run- 
away  slaves,  who  were  in  open  rebellion  against  the  gov- 
ernment.    He  shewed  a  certificate  to  that  effect,  containing 
a  request  to  all  pessons  to  furnish  him  with  horses  to  pro- 
secute his  journey  to  Capetown.     This,  however,  was  a 
mere  forgery;  and  it  turned  out  that  he  was  one  of  the  chiefs 
of  the  rebels;  but  happily  he  was  overtaken  on  the  road  to 
the  Cape,  and  arrested  as  an  impostor.     Lord  Culedon,  on 
the  discovery  of  the  plot,  sent  dragoons  through  the  country 
in  every  direction.     Some  of  the  colonists  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Gruenekloof  fled  thither  for  safety;  and  the  Breth- 
ren  did  every  thing  in  their  power  to  accommodate  them  and 
their  slaves.     They  also  distributed  arms  as  directed  by 
government,  among  their  own  Hottentots;  and  kept  a  strict 
watch  during  the  night.     Great  mischief,  indeed,   had  al- 
ready been  committed  by  the  insurgents.     Many  places 
were  attacked  and  plundered  by  them,  and  the  inhabitants 
bound  and  carried  away  prisoners.     Some  hundreds  of  the 
rebels,  however,  were  soon  taken  by  the  dragoons,  and  thus 
their  evil  designs  were  frustrated.! 

In  August  1811,  the  missionaries  at  this  place  were  again 
involved  in  deep  distress,  by  an  accident  which,  though  of 
a  more  private,  was  of  a  most  afiecting  nature.  As  the 
neighbourhood  had  of  late  been  much  infested  by  wolves, 
which  ventured  into  their  yard,  and  committed  terrible  lia- 
vock  among  their  cattle,  a  day  was  appointed  to  hunt  and 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol,  iv.  p.  361,  389,  392,  396.        \  Ibid,  vol,  Iv.  p.  441. 


i04  Propagation  of  Christianity 

destroy  them,  agreeably  to  the  practice  of  the  country.  The 
Brethren  Bonatz  and  Schmitt,  with  about  thirty  Hottentots, 
accordingly  set  out  in  the  morning,  armed  with  loaded  guns. 
When  about  an  hour's  ride  from  the  settlement,  they  dis- 
covered and  wounded  a  wolf;    but  the  animal  made  its  es- 
cape among  the  bushes.     They  pursued  it  for  some  time, 
but  not  being  able  to  detect  its  hiding  place,  the  two  mis- 
sionaries resolved  to  return  home.     They  had   already  left 
the  Hottentots  a  short  distance,  when  the  latter  cried,  they 
had  discovered  the  wolf  in  a  thicket  near  at  hand.     Schmitt 
immediately   rode  back  to  their  assistance,  but  Bonatz  re- 
mained behind,  as  he  had  not  his  gun  with  him.     When 
they  were  in  the  midst  of  the  thicket,  the  dog  started  the 
animal.     Those   within  did  not  see  what  it  was;  but  those 
without  cried  it  was  a  tyger,  and  ran  off  leaving  the  mission- 
ary and  one  of  the  Hottentots  in  the  middle  of  the  bushes, 
and  perfectly  at  a  loss  by  what  side  to  escape,  lest  they 
should  come  directly  upon  it.     They  therefore  proceeded 
slowly  with  their  guns  pointed,  designing  to  shoot  the  an- 
imal the  moment  it  made  its  appearance.     But  on  a  sudden 
the  tyger  sprung  upon  the  Hottentot,  pulled  him  down,  and 
began  to  bite  his  face.     Schmitt,  who  was  close  at  hand, 
prepared  his  gun  to  shoot  the  creature;  but  as  the  Hottentot 
lay  upon  it,  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  take  aim  so  as  ef- 
fectually to  disable  or  kill  it.     Immediately,  however,  the 
tyger,  let  go  the  Hottentot  and  made  a  spring  at  the  mission- 
ary.    His  gun  being  of  no  use  at  such  close  quarters,  he 
tlirevv  it  down,  and  in  order  to  defend  his  face,  held  up  his 
arm,  which  the  animal  instantly  seized,  close  to  the  elbow, 
with  his  jaws.     Schmitt,  however,  was  still  able,  with  the 
same  hand,  to  lay  hold  of  the  tyger's  fore  feet;  and  seizing 
him  with  the   other  by  the  throat,  threw  him  down,  and 
knelt  upon  his  body,  crying  to  the  Hottentots  to  come  and 
help  him.     No  sooner  did   his   companions  hear  his  cries, 
than  they  all  ran  to  his  assistance;  and  one  of  them  with  his 
gun  instantly  shot  the  animal  through  the  heart.     About 


by  the  United  Brethren.  105 

three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  they  arrived  at  Gruenekloof 
with  the  missionary,  who,  though  severely  wounded,  was 
still  alive.  As  the  case,  however,  was  of  an  extraordinary 
nature,  his  friends  were  much  at  a  loss  how  to  treat  him;  and 
before  it  was  possible  to  obtain  medical  advice  from  the 
Cape,  the  inflamation  spread  to  an  alarming  extent.  Every 
hour  indeed  he  grew  worse.  He  had  eight  ^'vounds  from 
the  elbow  to  the  wrist;  in  some  places  they  penetrated  to  the 
bone;  and  as  the  teeth  and  claws  of  a  tiger  are  shaped  like 
those  of  a  cat,  they  had  of  course  lacerated  the  parts.  His 
brethren,  after  several  days,  procured  a  medical  man  from 
the  Cape,  who  bled  him  very  freely,  and  kindly  promised 
not  to  leave  him  until  he  was  out  of  danger.  By  degrees, 
the  inflammation  abated;  symptoms  of  a  favourable  nature  be- 
gan to  appear;  and  to  the  astonishment  of  all  his  friends, 
Schmitt  at  length  recovered,  though  he  did  not  enjoy  the 
same  degree  of  health  as  before.* 

The  Hottentot,  though  severely  wounded,  did  not  suflfer 
so  much  bodily  pain  as  the  missionary.  It  was  the  third 
instance  in  which  he  had  encountered  a  tyger,  and  this  time 
he  would  in  all  probability  have  lost  his  life,  had  not  Schmitt 
risked  his  own  to  save  him.  After  the  tyger  had  got  the 
Hottentot  down,  the  missionary  might  easily  have  made  his 
escape,  as  well  as  his  companions,  but  he  could  not  bear  to 
see  the  poor  man  lose  his  life,  without  endeavouring  at 
least  to  rescue  him.f 

To  this  account  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  Brethren's  ^ 
settlements  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  we  shall  here  add  a 
short  Table,  containing  the  numbers  of  the  baptized,    SsPc. 
since  the  commencement  of  the  mission. 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  v.  p.  118,  ^50.  t  Ibid.  vrjl.  v.  p.  1?I 


(> 


lOG 


Propagation  of  Christiatiity 


BAVIAJV'S  KLOOF,  OR  GRACE  DALE.   Begun  1792.   j 

Years. 

Baptized,  and 
Candidates  for 
Bantisnio. 

Newly  Baptized. 

02 

c 
a 
o 

S 
E 
o 
o 

Inhabitants. 

it 

■;:  en 

o 

CO 

<u 

3 
O 

X 

c" 

1 

o 

c 
6 
1 

33 
o 

5 

1793 

16 

1794 

36 

4 

1795 

65 

20 

4 

24 

1796 

83 

173 

1  97 

136 

1798; 200 

46 

21 

67 

41 

705 

1799 1 297 

50 

27 

77 

252 

321 

661 

1234 

228 

1800i319 

71 

43 

114 

1300 

230 

18011352 

36 

1000 

237 

1802 

;09 

1014 

1803 

430 

24 

14 

58 

87 

212 

268  530 

1060 

1804 

473 

14 

15 

29 

94 

1095 

217 

1805  496 

186 

306601 

1093 

1806  523 

50 

104 

166 

194 

440 

800 

172 

1807  547 

43 

108 

167 

191 

387 

747 

1808  5.^4 

35 

25 

60 

121 

79' 

183 

1809  635 

61 

411102 

151 

867 

190 

1310  684 

92 

182245 

265 

454 

964 

213 

1311  769 

82 

59  141 

2,3 

993 

208 

1812  876 

|l63 

296 

1073 

224 

GRUEjXEKLOOF.   Begun  1808. 

1808 

7 

0 

31 

32 

38 

101 

1809 

26 

12 

6 

31 

29 

55 

115 

18 

1810 

54 

16 

5 

21 

12 

49 

47 

62 

158 

36 

1812 

125 

25 

7 

32 

36 

252 

* 

To  this  Table  we  shall  only  add,  that,  in  July  1812,  the 
whole  number  of  Hottentots  baptized  by  the  Brethren  at 
Bavian's  Kloof,  since  the  commencement  of  the  mission, 
amounted  to  1113  adults,  besides  a  great  many  children. f 
In  March  1813,  the  number  of  persons  who  had  been  bap- 
tized at  Gruenekloof,  during  the  last  four  years,  amounted 
to  93.J 

*  Period.  Accounts,  passim,     f  Ibid.  vol.  v.  p.  343.     \  Ibid.  vol.  v.  p.  432. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  107 

SEC710N  XL 

General  Observations. 

WE  have  now  taken  a  view  of  the  principal  missionai-y 
establishments  of  the  United  Brethren  among  the  Heathen. 
Several  of  these,  indeed,  they  have  been  obliged  to  relin- 
quish, as  well  as  some  others  which  they  undertook  at  dif- 
ferent periods;  but  yet  their  missions  are  still  numerous,  and 
many  of  them  are  flourishing  beyond  their  most  sanguine 
expectations.  In  the  year  1812,  the  United  Brethren  liad 
no  fewer  than  thirty-three  settlements  among  the  Heathen, 
in  which  were  employed  a  hundred  and  fifty-seven  mission- 
aries, under  whose  care  there  were,  according  to  an  esti- 
mate of  Mr.  Latrobe's,  about  twenty-seven  thousand  four 
hundred  converts;*  besides  whom,  we  suppose,  there  were 
some  thousands  of  the  Heathen  who  enjoyed  the  benefit  of 
their  instruction,  though  they  were  not  as  yet  members  of 
their  congregations.  To  exhibit  a  general  view  of  the  Breth- 
ren's missions,  we  shall  subjoin  a  Table,  containing  a  list  of 
their  settlements,  the  number  of  missionaries,  baptized,  &,c. 
at  the  latest  period  we  have  been  able  to  ascertain  them.f 

In  propagating  the  gospel  among  the  Heathen,  the  Breth- 
ren endeavoured  to  imimte  the  example  of  the  Apostle  Paul, 
who  "  determined  not  to  know  any  thing  among  them  save 
Jesus  Christ,  and  him  crucified."  Experience  has  taught 
them,  that  little  is  effected  by  beginning  with  the  principles 
of  natural  religion,  as  the  existence  of  God,  the  perfections 
of  his  nature,  or  the  duties  of  morality,  in  order  to  prepare 
them   for  receiving  the  gospel.     After  many  years  trial,  in 

*   Periodical  Accounts  vol,  v.  p.  523.    MSS,  Accounts. 

t  In  this  Tabic,  the  number  of  missionaries  refers  to  the  year  1812; 
the  number  of  converts  to  the  years  mentioned  in  the  last  column.  It  is 
also  proper  to  observe,  that  under  the  baptized  arc  included,  in  nj«is*. 
ii\stances,  the  candidates  for  baptism. 


108 


Propagation  of  Christianity/ 


jj 

CJ 

Countries. 

Settlements. 

o 

3 

1 

o 

or 

s 
s 

S-i 

a 

''M 

o 

o 

>• 

West  Indies 

1732 

St.  Thomas   N.  Herrnhuth 

^ 

1009 

430 

1812 

Niesky 

1276 

758 

1733 

St.  Croix. 

Friedensthal 

5161 

1711 

1812 

Friedensberg 

"^ 

2982 

897 

Friedensfield 

300 

— 

1741 

St.  Jan. 

Emmaus 

1006 

.^76 

1812 

Bethany 

_, 

455 

201 

1754 

Jamaica 

Bogue 

6 

207 

— 

1812 

Mesopotamia 

45 

— 

1800 

Carmel 

— 

1756 

Antigua. 

St.  John's 

Gracehill 

Gracebay 

14 

5804 
2283 
1359 

2578 
964 
643 

1801 

1765 

Barbadoes. 

Sharon 

4 

75 

— 

1794 

1774 

St.  Kitts. 

Basseterre 

6 

1870 

— 

1797 

1733 

Grteenland. 

N.  Herrnhuth 

Lichtenfels 

Lichtenau 

18 

300 
298 
400 

1810 

1735 

N.  America. 

15 

Fairfied 

126 

36 

1812 

Goshen 

50 

— 

1810 

Spring  Plac^ 

Flint  River 

— 

Sandusky 

— 

1734 

S.  America. 

17 

Paramaribo 

507 

400 

1812 

Sommelsdyk 

66 

— 

1798 

Hope 

169 

84 

1800 

Bam  bey 

50 

20 

1804 

1765 

Tartary. 

Sarepta 

4 

1810 

1771 

Labrador. 

Nain 

26 

97 

24 

1812 

Okkak 
Hopedale 

123 

87 

28 
32 

1792 

C.  OF  G.Hope 

Bavian's  Kloof 

16 

876 

296 

1812 

Gruenekloof 

125 

3612 

* 

t  Period.  Accounts,  passim. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  109 

different  countries,  and  under  every  variety  of  circumstances, 
they  found  that  the  simple  testimony  of  the  sufferings  and 
death  of  Christ,  delivered  by  a  missionary  possessed  of  art 
experimental  sense  of  his  love,  was  the  most  certain  and 
the  most  effectual  method  of  converting  the  Heathen.  It 
is  now,  therefore  a  rule  with  them,  to  enter  into  no  discus- 
sions concerning  the  existence  or  attributes  of  God,  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  other  similar  truths,  until  the 
savages  appear  to  believe  in  Christ,  and  to  feel  the  trans- 
forming influence  of  the  gospel  on  their  hearts  and  lives.* 
It  is  proper,  however,  to  remark,  that  though  the  Brethren 
make  the  death  of  Christ  the  grand  subject  of  their  preaching 
among  the  Heathen,  they  by  no  means  confine  their  instruc- 
tions to  this  particular  point.  There  is  no  part  of  divine 
truth,  whether  of  a  doctrinal  or  practical  nature,  but  what 
they  endeavour,  by  degrees,  to  instil  into  the  minds  of  the 
converts.! 

The  INTERNAL  regulations  of  tlic  Brethren's  settlements 
among  the  Heathen,  are  the  same  in  every  country  and  in 
all  situations.  Besides  preaching  the  gospel  to  them  in 
public,  the  missionaries  are  diligent  in  visiting  and  convers- 
ing with  them  in  private.  When  any  are  impressed  with  a 
sense  of  their  sinful  condition,  and  of  their  need  of  a  Saviour, 
particular  attention  is  paid  to  them,  and  on  enrolling  their 
names,  they  are  called  Neiv  People.  If  they  persevere  in 
their  concern  about  their  souls,  and  in  their  desire  to  be  re- 
ceived into  the  church,  they  are  then  considered  as  Candi- 
dates for  baptism  ;  and  after  further  instruction,  and  a  conve- 
nient time  of  probation,  they  arc  Baptized'.  If  they  still 
maintain  an  exemplary  walk  and  conversation,  and  desire 
to  be  admitted  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  they  are  first  permit- 
ted to  be  once  present  as  spectators;  and  are  then  consider- 
ed as  Candidates  for  the  communion^  and  after  some  time, 
they  are  admitted  as  Communicants.  Each  of  these  clas- 
ses have  separate   meetings,  in  which  they  are  instructed 

*  Periodical  Accounts,  vol.  i,   p.  8,  f  Ibid.  vol.  v.  p.  27. 


1 10  Propagation  of  Christianity 

in  "  all  things  pertaining  to  life  and  godliness.'*  Separate 
meetings  are  also  held  with  other  divisions  of  the  congre- 
gation, as  the  children,  the  single  men,  the  single  women, 
the  married  people,  the  widowers  and  widows,  in  which  the 
admonitions  and  precepts  given  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  to 
each  particular  class  are  inculcated  upon  them.  Besides, 
all  the  baptized  and  all  the  communicants  come  at  stated 
seasons  to  converse  privately  with  the  missionaries;  the 
men  with  one  of  the  Brethren,  the  women  with  one  of  the 
Sisters.  By  this  means  the  missionaries  obtain  a  more  per- 
fect knowledge  of  the  congregation,  and  have  an  opportu- 
nity of  administering  advice  or  reproof  to  each  individual, 
suited  to  his  particular  circumstance.* 

As  the  Brethren  consider  it  of  great  importance  to  know 
the  state  of  every  individual  belonging  to  their  congregations, 
it  would  be  impossible  for  the  missionaries  to  perform  their 
duty  in  a  manner  satisfactory  to  themselves,  unless  among 
the  converts  there  were  found  some  who  were  qualified  to 
act  as  Assistants.  These  are  chosen  from  among  both  sex- 
es, and  consist  of  persons  whose  good  understanding,  and 
whose  exemplary  behaviour,  have  rendered  them  respected 
by  the  other  members  of  the  congregation.  They  have  each 
a  particular  district  assigned  them,  in  which  they  visit  the 
people  from  house  to  house,  attend  the  sick,  the  aged,  the 
infirm,  preserve  order,  endeavour  to  remove  dissensions,  and 
promote  harmony  among  those  under  their  care.  The  as- 
sistants meet  the  missionaries  in  conference,  at  stated  peri- 
ods, at  least  once  a  month,  and  make  reports  concerning  the 
state  of  the  congregation.  By  this  means,  the  Brethren 
learn  whether  their  people  walk  in  conformity  with  the  gos- 
pel, where  their  assistance  is  most  needed,  and  how  it  may 
be  most  usefully  applied.  In  some  missions,  the  assistants 
are  also  occasionally  employed  to  address  the  congregation 
at  their  meetings  on  a  week  day;  and  it  is  not  unworthy  of 

*  Period.  Accrtbnts,  vol.  v.  p.  19 


by  the  United  Brethren.  Ill 

notice,  that  God  has  often  blessed,  in  a  remarkable  manner, 
their  simple  yet  affectionate  testimony.  Other  persons,  of 
exemplary  behaviour,  are  employed  as  Servants  in  the  cha- 
pel, and  meet  also  in  conference,  to  consult  on  subjects  con- 
nected with  the  external  order  of  the  congregation.  Besides, 
at  stated  times  a  Council  is  held,  consistingof  a  number  of 
the  most  respectable  inhabitants  of  the  place,  chosen  by  the 
congregation,  in  which  every  thing  that  concerns  the  welfare 
of  the  settlement  is  taken  into  consideration.  It  is  also  pro- 
per to  observe,  that  in  each  settlement  one  of  the  Brethren  is 
appointed  the  Superintendent  of  the  mission;  but  he  never 
acts  without  consulting  his  fellow  labourers,  and  for  this 
purpose  he  holds  a  conference  with  them  once  or  twice  a 
week.* 

With  regard  to  the  external  regulations,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  make  them  precisely  the  same  in  all  situations,  ow- 
ing to  the  very  different  circumstances  in  which  the  converts 
are  placed.  Among  free  Heathen,  regulations  similar  to 
those  of  the  Brethren's  settlements  in  Europe  are  more  ea- 
sily introduced;  among  slaves,  this,  for  obvious  reasons,  is 
impracticable.  But  yet,  in  every  situation,  whatever  tends 
to  promote  Christian  piety  and  good  order,  is  carefully  in- 
culcated; and  the  discipline  of  the  church  is  strictly  admin- 
istered. Any  member,  whether  a  free  man  or  a  slave,  who 
acts  contrary  to  the  moral  precepts  of  the  Bible,  is  either 
excluded  from  the  Lord's  Supper,  or  from  the  meetings  of 
the  baptized,  or  even,  in  certain  cases,  from  all  fellowship 
w4th  the  congregation;  nor  is  he  re-admitted,  until  he  gives 
satisfactory  proofs  of  repentance.  No  situation,  it  is  obvi- 
ous can  sanction  or  excuse  disobedience  to  the  law^s  of 
Christ,  t 

In  all  the  Brethren's  settlements  among  the  Heathen,  the 
congregations  meet  daily,  cither  in  the  morning  or  evening, 
for  social  worship;  and  on  the  Sabbath,  the  missionaries  are 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  v.  p.  \7,  21.  f  Ibid.  vol.  v.  p.  S?- 


112  Propagation  of  Christianity 

employed  from  the  morning  dawn  until  the  evening,  in 
preaching,  meeting  the  different  divisions  of  their  ocks, 
conversing  with  their  own  people,  or  with  Heathen  visitors, 
under  concern  for  their  souls.  Even  during  the  week,  they 
are  scarcely  less  employed  in  the  duties  of  their  otlice,  as 
the  daily  meetings,  visiting  the  sick,  and  such  as  cannot  at- 
tend on  the  Lord's  day,  occupy  a  great  portion  of  their 
time.* 

In  all  the  Brethren's  settlements  among  the  the  free  Hea- 
then  schools  are  established,  as  in  Greenland,  Labrador, 
North  America,  South  America,  and  at  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.  In  the  West  Indies,  this  is  not  generally  practica- 
ble, as  the  children  are  not  under  the  immediate  controul  of 
their  parents;  but  yet  a  Sabbath  school,  as  we  have  already 
mentioned,  has  lately  been  established  in  Antigua,  by  per- 
mission of  some  of  the  planters. 

With  the  view  of  improving  the  converts,  the  Brethren 
have  introduced  the  use  of  letters  among  them,  and  have 
provided  them  with  books  in  their  own  languages,  though 
most  of  them  were  never  written  before.  They  have  prin- 
ted Spelling-books,  and  a  Catechism,  or  Summary  of  Cris- 
tian  Doctrine,  in  the  Greenland,  Esquimaux,  Delaware, 
Arawack,  and  Creole  languages;  Hymn-books  in  the  Green- 
land, Esquimaux,  and  Creole;  a  Harmony  of  the  Four  Gos- 
pels, in  use  in  the  Brethren's  church,  in  the  Greenland  and 
Esquimaux;  to  which  has  been  lately  added,  by  the  liberal- 
ity of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  the  Four  Gos- 
pels in  Esquimaux;  and  it  is  expected,  that  the  whole  of  the 
New  Testament  will  be  printed  by  that  institution  as  soon 
as  it  is  ready  for  press.  Besides  these,  various  parts  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  have  been  translated  by  the  Brethren  into 
different  other  Heathen  languages,  and  are  in  constant  use 
in  their  congregations,  though  as  yet  only  in  manuscript.! 

The  general  synods  of  the  Brethren's  church,  which  con- 

*  Pericxi.  Accounts,  vol.  v.  p.  23.        \  Ibid.  vol.  v.  p.  22- 


by  the  United  Brethren^  113 

sist  of  representatives  from  all  the  congregations,  appoint  a 
select  number  of  bishops  and  elders  to  superintend  the  af- 
fairs of  the  whole  church,  till  the  next  general  synod,  which 
in  times  of  peace,  usually  meets  every  seven  or  eight  years. 
The  Elders'  Conference  of  the  Unity,  as  they  are  called,  is 
divided  into  four  departments,  one  of  which  has  the  special 
care  of  the  missionary  establishments  among  the  Heathen. 
This  committee,  however,  simply  takes  the  affairs  of  the 
missions  into  consideration,  and  brings  forward  proposals 
concerning  them:  it  neither  forms  resolutions,  nor  carries 
any  measure  into  effect,  until  they  are  laid  before  the  whole 
Elders'  Conference  of  the  Unity,  and  receive  its  concurrence. 
The  missionaries  in  every  quarter  of  the  world  keep  up  a 
regular  correspondence  with  this  department,  and  transmit 
to  them  their  diaries  or  journals.  Of  these,  a  secretary  is 
appointed  to  make  extracts;  a  copy  of  which,  in  manuscript, 
is  sent  and  read  to  all  the  congregations  of  the  Brethren.* 
By  this  means,  a  missionary  spirit  is  cultivated  among  the 
whole  members  of  the  church:  the  young  and  the  old,  men, 
women,  and  children,  all  feel  a  kind  of  passion  for  missions'; 
and  hence  they  are  seldom  at  a  loss  for  faithful  labourers  to 
^even  to  the  most  inhospitable  countries,  and  among  the 
most  savage  people. 

Besides  the  Elders'  Conference  of  the  Unity,  several  in- 
stitutions of  a  more  private  nature  have  been  formed  among 
the  Brethren  with  the  view  of  affording  their  assistance  in 
carrying  on  their  missions.  In  1741,  a  society  for  the  fur. 
therance  of  the  gospel  among  the  Heathen,  was  instituted  in 
London  for  the  purpose  of  co-operating  with  the  committee 
of  the  Elders'  Conference  in  providing  for  such  missionaries 
as  might  pass  through  England  to  the  places  of  their  desti- 
nation. After  some  years,  however,  it  was  dissolved;  but 
it  was  again  renewed  in  1766,  and  has  taken  upon  it  the 
whole  expense  of  the  mission  to  Labrador,  besides  assisting, 
as  far  as  it  was  able,  the  missions  in  other  quarters,  particu'- 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vo].  v.  p.  16 


114  Fropagation  of  Christianity 

larly  those  in  the  British  dominions.  In  1746,  a  similar  so- 
ciety was  established  by  the  Brethren  in  Amsterdam;  but 
after  some  years  it  also  was  dissolved,  in  consequence  of 
some  misunderstanding  among  the  members.  It  was  again 
renewed,  however,  in  1793,  at  Zeist,  near  Utrecht.  This 
society  took  particular  charge  of  the  mission  at  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  while  the  country  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Dutch; 
but  the  state  of  Holland  of  late  years  has  prevented  it  from 
being  of  much  service.  In  1787,  tlie  Brethren  in  North 
America  established  a  society  for  propagating  the  gospel 
among  the  Heathen,  which  was  incorporated  by  the  state  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  has  since  been  useful  in  assisting  the 
missions,  among  the  Indian  tribes.  It  is  necessary,  however, 
to  remark,  that  these  three  societies  have  no  power  to  begin  new 
missions,  or  even  to  send  out  missionaries.  This,  by  the 
synods  of  the  Brethren's  church,  is  vested  solely  in  the  El- 
der's Conference  of  the  Unity.* 

When  any  member  of  the  Brethren's  church  feels  himself 
disposed  to  go  as  a  missionary  among  the  Heathen,  he  com- 
municates his  desire  to  that  department  of  the  Elder's  Con- 
ference which  has  the  superintcndance  of  the  mission  com- 
mitted to  their  care.  If,  on  inquiry  into  his  situation  ^ad 
circumstances,  there  appears  no  particular  objection  to  it,  he 
is  considered  as  a  candidate  for  missionary  service  in  gen- 
eral, unless  he  has  mentioned  a  predilection  for  any  partic- 
ular place,  and  then  special  attention  is  paid  to  his  wishes. f 

Ab  to  the  qualifications  of  their  missionaries,  much  eru- 
dition is  not  required  by  the  Brethren.  They  have  learned 
by  experience,  thac  a  good  understanding,  combined  with  a 
friendly  disposition,  and  above  all,  a  heart  inflamed  with  the 
love  of  God,  are  the  best  and  most  essential  qualifications  of 
a  missionary.  In  general,  they  think,  the  habits  of  a  student 
are  not  so  well  calculated  to  form  a  person  for  the  toils  and 
hardships  of  a  missionary  life,  as  those  of  a  mechanic.     Yet 

•  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  v.  p.  17.     Renort  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  So- 
ciety for  1813,  Appendix,  p.  32,  99. 
■\  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  v.  p.  6. 


by  the  United  Brethren.  115 

men  of  learning  are  by  no  means  rejected  by  them,  and  in 
various  instances,  their  superior  literary  attainments  have 
not  been  without  their  use.  When  a  new  mission  is  to  be 
begun,  or  a  vacancy  occurs  in  any  of  those  already  estab- 
lished, the  list  of  candidates  is  examined,  and  such  as  are 
deemed  most  suitable  are  called  upon,  and  accept  or  decline 
the  invitation  as  they  find  themselves  disposed.* 

Both  the  Brethren  at  home  who  superintend  the  missions, 
and  the  missionaries  abroad  who  conduct  them,  endeavour 
to  establish  them  on  such  a  footing  as  to  render  the  expen- 
ses  as  small  as  possible.  The  missionaries  receive  no  stated 
salary,  but  they  annually  send  a  list  of  necessaries  from  each 
place  to  the  Brethren  appointed  to  provide  for  the  missions, 
and  the  articles  wanted,  after  being  approved  of,  are  for- 
warded to  them.  The  Brethren  and  Sisters  belonging  to  one 
mission  keep  house  in  common,  and  wherever  it  is  practi- 
cable, they  endeavoured,  as  far  as  possible,  to  earn  a  liveli- 
hood by  the  labour  of  their  own  hands.  This  has  in  some 
instances  succeeded,  particularly  in  the  Danish  \Yest  India 
Islands,  and  in  Surinam,  through  the  diligence  and  zeal  of 
some  Brethren,  who  have  not  only  laboured  with  success 
among  the  Heathen,  but  have  earned  so  much  at  their  occu- 
pations as  to  contribute  considerably  to  the  support  of  the 
missions.  Circumstances,  however,  will  not  admit  of  this 
in  every  place. f 

Till  the  year  1741,  count  Zinzendorf  and  his  lady  provi- 
ded for  all  the  expenses  of  the  missions,  and  to  their  honour 
let  it  be  recorded,  they  contributed  to  them  in  the  most  lib- 
eral manner.  At  present  the  Brethren's  missions  are  sup- 
ported entirely  by  voluntary  contributions,  particularly  of 
members  of  their  congregations  in  Europe  and  America, 
each  of  whom  contributes,  twice  a  year,  whatever  he  thinks 
proper  for  their  support.  During  the  present  war,  the  ex- 
pense of  them  has  increased  from  3000/.  to  8000/.  a  year,  a 
small  sum  certainly,  considering  the  extent  and  importance 

*  Perio'l.  Accounts,  vol.  v.  p.  6.        i  Ibtd.  vol  v.  p.  25. 


116  Propagation  of  Christianity  ^c. 

of  their  establishments,  though  large  when  compai'ed  with 
the  number  and  ability  of  the  contributors.  But  the  war 
has  not  only  had  a  pernicious  effect  in  increasing  the  ordi- 
nary expenses  of  the  missions,  it  has  also  diminished  the  re- 
sources  of  many  of  the  members,  particularly  in  Holland 
and  Germany,  which  have  so  often  been  the  scene  of  hos- 
tilities. We  are  sorry  to  understand,  that  in  the  year  1861, 
the  debts  of  the  Brethren,  on  account  of  their  missionary 
establishments  among  the  Heathen,  amounted  to  near  two 
thousand  pounds.*  The  modesty  of  the  Brethren,  indeed, 
is  so  extreme,  and  their  faith  in  God  is  so  strong,  that  they 
do  not  come  forward  and  make  their  wants  known:  But 
shall  these  circumstances  cause  them  to  be  overlooked  by 
Christians  of  other  denominations?  Instead  of  this,  they 
should  rather  raise  them  in  our  estimation,  and  give  new 
energy  to  their  claims  on  our  benevolence.  We  trust  these 
facts  require  only  to  be  stated,  to  induce  many  to  come  for- 
ward with  their  contributions  to  assist  these  extraordinary 
iltien,  in  carrying  on  those  noble  and  important  undertakings, 
in  which  they  have  been  so  long,  so  honourably,  and  so  suc- 
cessfully engaged. 

*  Span_£^enberg's   Account  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Brethren  carry  on  theip 
ilissions  among  the  Heathen.  MSS,  Accounts.  Period.  Accouuts,  vol,  v.  p.  24,  324. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


MIOPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY  BY  THE  METHODISTS. 


West  Indies. 

In  autumn,  178f-,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coke,  accompanied  by 
three  other  Methodist  preachers,  destined  for  Nova  Scotia, 
sailed  from  England  for  that  country,  but  after  being  ten 
weeks  at  sea,  the  violence  of  the  gales,  a  leak  in  the  ship, 
and  apprehensions  of  the  want  of  water,  forced  the  captain 
to  change  his  course,  and  bear  off  for  the  West  Indies.  Hav- 
ing landed  on  the  island  of  Antigua,  the  doctor  and  his  com- 
panions resolved,  that,  instead  of  proceeding  to  the  original 
place  of  their  destination,  they  would  attempt  to  begin  a 
mission  on  this  and  some  of  the  neighbouring  islands.  Of 
these  establishments  we  shall  now  give  some  short  account, 
beginning  with  Antigua,  where,  however,  it  is  necessary  that 
we  go  a  few  years  farther  back. 


SECTION  I. 

Antigua.* 

In  the  year  1760,  Nathaniel  Gilbert,  esq.  speaker  of  the 
House  of  Assembly  in  Antigua,  began  to  make  some  at- 
tempts to  promote  the  interests  of  religion  on  that  island. 
Having,  in  a  late  visit  to  England,  been  himself  impressed 
by  the  gospel,  he  endeavoured,  on  his  return  to  Antigua,  tq 

*  Is  in  latitude  17°  "0'  N-  and  longitude  62°  5'  W.  being  about  2© 
miles  square. 


118  Propagation  of  Christianity 

communicate  to  others  the  light  of  divine  truth.  His  at- 
tempts were  at  first  confined  to  a  few  persons,  whom  he  col- 
lected together  in  his  own  house  on  the  Lord's  day;  but 
afterwards  he  proceeded  to  preach  in  public,  not  only  to  the 
white  people,  but  to  the  negro  slaves.  Conduct  so  singular 
and  unexampled  could  not  fail  to  excite  general  notice,  and 
to  draw  upon  him  the  insults  and  slanders  of  the  enemies  of 
religion,  notwithstanding  the  high  station  which  he  occupied 
in  the  island.  He  persevered,  however,  in  his  labours,  amidst 
the  numerous  indignities  v/hich  were  thrown  upon  hun;  and 
he  had  at  length  the  pleasure  of  uniting  about  two  hundred 
of  his  hearers  into  a  Christian  society,  and  continued  to 
watch  over  them  w^ith  all  the  affection  and  solicitude  of  a 
father.  But  how  mysterious  are  the  ways  of  Providence!  In 
the  midst  of  these  useful  and  disinterested  labours,  he  was 
called  away  from  this  terrestrial  scene,  to  enter  the  eter- 
nal state,  and  his  disconsolate  flock  were  left  as  sheep 
without  a  shepherd,  having  no  one  to  guide  them  in  the 
paths  of  religion,  to  reprove  their  wanderings,  to  comfort 
them  in  their  afflictions,  or  to  cherish  the  infant  work  of 
grace  in  their  hearts. 

From  the  death  of  Mr.  Gilbert,  nearly  twenty  years  elap- 
sed before  one  was  found  to  supply  his  place.  At  length, 
however,  Mr.  John  Baxter,  a  member  of  the  Methodist  con- 
nection in  this  country,  embarked  from  Chatham  for  Anti- 
gua, to  work  as  a  shipwright  in  the  service  of  government; 
and,  having  on  his  arrival  found  religion  at  a  very  low  ebb 
on  the  island,  he  embraced  the  opportunity  of  his  leisure 
hours  for  preaching  the  gospel  to  such  as  would  hear  him. 
Such  of  Mr.  Gilbert's  hearers  as  had  surv^ived  the  ravages 
of  death,  and  remained  faithful  amid  abounding  iniquity, 
soon  flocked  to  him.  In  the  space  of  five  years,  he  collected 
together  into  a  society  about  a  thousand  members;  but  un- 
happily, through  a  laxity  of  discipline,  many  were  received 
into  it,  whose  conduct  but  ill  corresponded  with  their  pro- 
fession. 


by  the  Methodists. 


119 


On  Dr.  Coke's  arrival  in  December  1786,  Mr.  Baxter 
agreed  to  relinquish  a  lucrative  situation  which  he  held  on 
the  island,  and  to  devote  himself  entirely  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  along  with  Mr.  Warrener,  one  of  the  preachers, 
who  was  originally  destined  for  Nova  Scotia.    It  was  now, 
however,  found  necessary  to  discard  many  of  the  members, 
as  unworthy  of  the  profession  which  they  made,  a  circum- 
stance which  considerably  reduced  the  number  of  the  soci- 
ety.    But   the  advantages  which  resulted  from  it,   amply 
counterbalanced  this  inconvenience.    It  rescued  the  gospel 
from  disgrace,   induced  those  who  remained  to  walk  with 
greater  circumspection,  and  ultimately  proved  beneficial  to 
the  interests  of  religion.     Since  that  period,  the  Methodist 
society  in  Antigua  has  been  subject  to  considerable  varia- 
tions.   But  amidst  these  changes,  it  has  in  general,  been 
more  or  less  on  the  increase;  so  that  though  the  branches 
have  occasionally  been  blasted,  the  tree  itself  has  been  taking- 
deeper  root.    The  following  table  exhibits  the   number  of 
members  in  the  Methodist  societies  in  Antigua,  for  several 
years  past; 


Years. 

Whites. 

Blacks  and 
Coloured. 

i 
Total.    \ 

! 
J 

1804 
1807 
1808 
1809 
1810 
1811 

22 

20 
19 

20 

3516 

2809 
2479 

2385 

3538     1 
2800      ; 
2829     ; 
2498     : 
2645     : 
24071 

t  An  Account  of  the  Rise,  Progress,  and  Present  State  of  the  Me- 
thodist Missions,  by  Dr.  Coke,  1804,  p.  3.  Annual  Reports  of  the  Me- 
thodist Missions  from  1805  to  1811. 

Note. — In  the  tables  of  this  chapter,  where  there  is  an  asterisk,  f  *\ 
it  indicates  that  it  is  only  an  approxi.mation  to  the  number. 


1^0  Propagation  of  Christianity 

SECTIOjV  ii. 

Dominica.* 

AS  soon  as  Dr.  Coke  had  settled  the  mission  in  Antigua, 
he  sailed  for  Dominica,  with  the  view  of  promoting  the 
interests  of  religion  in  that  island.  In  1788,  a  missionary 
was  sent  thither,  and  in  a  short  time  he  collected  about  a 
hundred  and  fifty  of  the  negroes  into  a  society;  a  circum- 
stance which  so  encouraged  and  animated  him  in  his  work, 
that  he  laboured  beyond  his  strength,  and  soon  fell  a  victim  to 
his  excessive  exertions.  After  his  death  a  considerable  time 
elapsed  before  his  place  could  be  supplied,  and  in  the  mean- 
while, most  of  those  of  whom  he  had  conceived  good  hopes, 
relapsed  into  their  former  practices.  Some,  however,  re- 
mained stedfast  to  their  Christian  profession,  and  on  the 
arrival  of  a  new  missionary,  a  society  consisting  of  several 
hundred  members  was  in  a  short  time  raised  at  Prince 
Rupert's  Bay.  But  the  low  marshy  situation  of  this  place 
has  proved  highly  injurious  to  the  health  of  the  missionaries. 
Several  of  them  have  fallen  sacrifices  to  the  diseases  which 
they  caught  in  the  prosecution  of  their  labours;  while  others 
who  came  to  settle  on  the  island  have  been  so  debilitated 
through  sickness,  that  they  have  been  compelled  to  remove 
to  some  more  salubrious  climate  for  the  recovery  of  their 
health.  Dominica,  indeed,  has  on  the  whole,  been  the  most 
unhealthy  island  on  which  the  Methodists  have  attempted  to 
establish  a  mission.  Hence  it  has  often  been  left  without  a 
missionary,  a  circumstance  which  could  not  fail  materially 
to  retard  their  progress.  The  work,  however,  is  at  present 
rather  in  a  prosperous  state,  especially  considering  that  the 

*  Is  about  28  miles  in  length,  and  12  in  breadth;  ki  lat.  15"  15' N, 
and  long.  61°  28'  W. 


by  the  Methodists. 


121 


greater  part  of  the  people  were  strongly  attached  to  the 
church  of  Rome,  and  laboured  under  violent  prejudices 
against  the  Protestant  faith.  Many  of  them,  however,  have 
now  thrown  off  these  shackles,  and  assumed  fortitude 
enough  to  laugh  at  the  fooleries,  and  to  despise  the  anathemas 
of  the  Romish  priests.  Even  their  attachment  to  France  is 
now  a  less  formidable  impediment  than  it  was  at  first.  In 
no  island,  however,  has  the  number  of  the  Methodist  mem- 
bers varied  so  much  as  in  Dominica,  as  appears  from  the 
following  Table: 


Years. 

Whites. 

Blacks  and 
Coloured. 

Total. 

1802 
1803 
1804 
180/ 
1808 
1809 
1810 
1811 

3 

2 
3 

50 
900* 
1003 
800* 
803 
750* 

90 
609t 

1000 

801 

747 

SECTION  in. 


St.  Vincent's. J 


IN  1787,  the  Methodists  visited  the  island  of  St.  Vincent's, 
with  the  view  of  establishing  a  mission  upon  it;  and  on  their 

f  Account  nf  the  Rise,  Progress,  and  Present  State  of  the  Methodist  Missions, 
p.  4.  Annual  Kcports,  from  1806  to  1811.   Methodist  Magazine,  vol.  xxvii.  p.  189. 

\  St.  Vincent's  Island,  in  the  West  Indies,  is  to  the  south  from  the 
Island  of  St.  Lucia.  It  is  about  twenty  miles  in  length,  and  almost  as 
much  in  breadth,  and  is  in  lat.  31°  10'  N.  and  in  long.  61°  21,  W.  It 
j.s  about  twenty  leagues  to  the  west  from  Barbadoes  Island, 

VOL.  IX.  Q 


122  Propagation  of  Christianity 

arrival,  they  were  treated  with  many  flattering  marks  of  re- 
spect by  the  inhabitants.  They  attempted  soon  after  to 
begin  a  school  among  the  native  Caribs,  and  the  legislature 
of  the  island  gave  an  estate  for  the  support  of  the  institution; 
but  the  Catholic  priests  of  Martinico  infused  suspicions  into 
the  minds  of  the  poor  people,  that  the  missionaries  were 
spies  employed  by  the  king  of  England,  and  by  this  means 
raised  their  jealousy  to  such  a  pitch,  tliat  it  was  found  ne- 
cessary to  withdraw  from  among  them.  Among  the  negroes, 
however,  the  Methodists  were  more  successful,  and  in  a 
short  time  collected  such  numbers  of  them  in  their  societies 
as  amply  recompensed  them  for  the  failure  of  their  labours 
among  the  Caribs, 

In  1793,  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  St.  Vincent's,  which 
had  at  first  patronized  the  Methodist  missionaries,  passed  a 
very   rigorous  act  against   them,   prohibiting   them   from 
preaching  to  the  negroes  under  the  severest  penalties.  For 
the  first  transgression,  it  was  enacted  that  the  offender  should 
be  punished  by  a  fine  of  18/.;  for  the  second,  by  such  cor- 
poreal punishment  as  the  court  should  think  proi)er  to  inflict, 
and  likewise  by  banishment;  and  if  the  person  should  return 
from  banishment,  by  death!    In  consequence  of  this  infa- 
mous act,  Mr.  Lumb,  the  missionary,  was  thrown  into  prison 
for  preaching  the  gospel,  and  refusing  to  pay  the  fine.    The 
magistrate,  indeed,  who  committed  him,  offered  to  lay  down 
the  greater  part  of  the  fine,  and  one  of  the  merchants  wished 
to  pay  the  W'hole,  but  he  was  determined  to  do  nothing  which 
might  be  construed  as  a  voluntary  submission  to  a  law  so 
execrable  in  itself,  and  so  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  British 
constitution.    Happily  it  was  in  force  only  for  a  short  time, 
for  as  all  the  acts  of  the  Colonial  Assemblies  must  be  trans- 
mitted to  his  majesty  for  his  royal  sanction,  the  king  was 
graciously  pleased  to  disallow  it,  as  contrary  to  the  principles 
of  toleration,  of  which  he  has  always  professed  himself  the 
jdecided  friend. 

Since  that  period,  no  material  impediment  has  been  thrown 


bij  the  Methodists. 


123 


in  the  way  of  the  Methodist  missionaries  in  the  island  of  St„ 
Vincent's.  Many  of  those  who  once  were  their  persecutors, 
are  now  become  their  friends,  and  shew  them  a  degree  of 
kindness  and  hospitality  scarcely  equalled  in  any  other  island. 
The  prejudices  of  others,  however,  are  rather  softened  than 
subdued,  and  would  probably  burst  forth  with  renewed  vio- 
lence, had  they  any  prospect  of  being  supported  by  the  civil 
power. 

The  members  of  the  Methodist  Societies  in  St.  Vincent's 
are  pretty  numerous;  but  as  they  are  scattered  over  the  va- 
rious plantations  on  the  island,  they  have  no  opportunity  of 
attending  divine  worship  except  on  the  Lord's  day,  and 
even  then  many  of  them  have  it  not  in  their  power,  in  con- 
sequence of  their  great  distance  from  town.  The  following 
Table  will  sliew  the  state  of  their  numbers  for  several  years 
Dast : 


i 

1  ears. 

White. 

Blacks  and 
Coloured. 

Total.    \ 

:      1 803 
1804 
1806 
1807 
1808 
1809 

,     1810 

i     1811 

1 

6 

9 

11 

13 
12 

2350 
2160 
i2  0 

23  o  6 
2169 
2281 
2374 
23  74 
2374 
2861 
1133t 

2361 

1121 

f  Account  nf  the  Risr,  S^,-.  of  ATet''o<1Uf  \j;qs-,,vi^.      Ai-itnl  Reports  from  1806 


124  Propagation  of  Chistianitu 

SECTION  IF. 

St.  Christopher's.* 


IN  1787,  Dr.  Coke,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Hammel,  one 
of  the  Methodist  preachers,  visited  St.  Christopher's  with 
the  view  of  establishing  a  mission  upon  the  island;  and  on 
explaining  their  design,  they  were  received  by  the  inhabit- 
ants with  the  most  flattering  tokens  of  approbation.  Mr. 
Hammel  remained  on  the  island;  a  small  society  was  almost 
immediately  formed;  and  since  that  period,  multitudes  who 
had  lived  without  God,  without  Christ,  and  without  hope  in 
the  world,  have  been  impressd  with  concern  for  their  souls^ 
and  received  as  members  by  the  missionaries.  Many  al- 
lowances, however  must  be  made  for  slaves,  whose  situation 
in  life  depresses  the  growth  of  their  mental  powers,  debases 
their  understanding,  and  corrupts  their  heart.  The  Negroes 
employed  on  the  plantations  have,  in  general,  extremely 
scanty  and  confused  ideas  on  almost  every  subject,  and  feel 
the  utmost  difficulty  in  expressing  themselves  with  preci- 
sion and  perspicuity,  concerning  even  the  most  ordinary 
circumstances.  The  testimony,  therefore,  whic  h  they  bear- 
for  religion,  must  be  sought  for  in  the  conduct  of  their  life, 
rather  than  in  the  language  of  their  lips.  In  the  towns,  how- 
ever, particularly  in  Basseterre,  the  Negroes  are  more  dis- 
tinguished for  the  clearness  of  their  ideas  and  the  accuracy 

*  St.  Christopher's,  commonly  called  St.  Kitt's  Island,  is  of  the  num- 
ber of  those  visually  disthiguishcd  by  the  name  of  the  Caribbees,  of 
which  it  is  deemed  the  principal,  being  in  leng-ih  about  twenty  miles 
and  in  breadth  seven.  It  is  separated  from  the  small  Island  of  Nevis  by 
a  narrow  strait  about  three-fourths  of  a  league  broad.  It  lies  west  from 
the  Island  of  Antigua  about  fifteen  leagues.  Bassaterre  and  Sandy 
Point  are  the  principal  towns  of  the  island.  The  north  point  of  the 
island  is  in  lat.  17°  '27'  N.  and  the  south  point  in  long.  62=  47'  W. 
The  Island  of  St.  Eustatia  is  only  about  three  leagues  west  by  north 
Irom  the  west  poiiit  of  this  island 


by  the  Methodists. 


125 


of  their  language.  Among  them,  indeed,  there  have 
been  several,  who,  by  leading  classes,  and  exhorting  their 
countrymen,  have  rendered  the  mission  most  essential  ser- 
vice. 

From  the  time  when  the  Methodists  first  settled  in  this 
island,  they  have  experienced  almost  an  uninterrupted  flow 
of  external  prosperity.  Disturbances,  indeed,  from  the  law- 
less mob  have  occasionally  occurred;  but  as  they  were  never 
supported  by  the  government  of  the  island,  they  existed  only 
for  a  moment,  and  then  expired. 

The  following  Table  exhibits  a  view  of  the  number  of 
members  in  their  societies  for  several  years  past: 


Years. 

Whites. 

Blacks  and 
Coloured. 

Total    1 

1804 
1806 
1807 
1808 
1809 
1810 
1811 

17 

34 
34 
28 
26 

31 

3000 
2473 
2325 
2327 
1925 

3017 
2507 
2339 

2355     \ 
1951     ! 
2079 
^^353\ 

2322 

SECTION  V, 


St.  Eustatia.i 


IN  1787,  Dr.  Coke  visited  St.  Eustatia,  which  was  then 
in  the  hands  of  the  Dutch,  in  the  course  of  his  voyage  through 
the  West  Indies.     The  government  of  the  island,  however, 

f  Account  of  llie  llise,  etc.  of  tlic  Methodist  Missions.  Annual  Reports  from 
1806  to  18H. 

\  St.  Eustatia  is  about  five  leagues  in  circumference,  gnd  forms  a 
steep  mounlaiu  in  the  shape  of  a  cone.  It  is  in  lat.  17°  29'  N.  and  long. 
63°  10'  W. 


1:26  Propagation  of  Christianity 

would  not  suffer  him  to  preach;  but  yet  he  employed  his? 
time  from  morning  to  night,  for  about  eighteen  days,  in  in- 
structing small  companies  of  the  Negroes,  from  eight  to 
twelve  at  a  time,  in  the  house  of  a  free  black  with  whom  he 
lodged.  Having  returned  again  the  following  year,  he  would 
have  been  thrown  into  prison,  had  it  not  been  for  a  letter 
which  had  been  obtained  from  lord  Dover  to  the  government 
of  Holland,  intelligence  of  which  had  just  reached  the  island. 

Dr.  Coke  having  afterwards  visited  Saba,  the  governor  and 
council  of  that  island  requested  him  to  settle  a  minister 
among  them.  In  compliance  with  their  request,  he  appoint- 
ed Mr.  Brazier  to  remain  among  them;  but  the  governor  of 
St.  Eustatia,  who  possessed  the  supreme  authority  in  all 
the  Dutch  possessions  in  that  part  of  the  West  Indies,  com- 
pelled the  government  of  Saba,  though  with  much  reluc- 
tance, to  part  with  their  preacher. 

In  the  island  of  St.  Eustatia  itself,  the  governor  cruelly 
persecuted  a  certain  slave  who  endeavoured  to  instruct  his 
countrymen  in  the  things  which  belonged  to  their  everlast- 
ing peace;  and  at  length  the  poor  man  was  sold  off  the  island 
to  the  captain  of  a  Spanish  ship.  He  likewise  persecuted 
such  as  attended  the  meetings  for  divine  worship.  He  pur- 
sued them  by  his  black  soldiers  from  corner  to  corner,  to 
their  own  little  huts,  and  even  to  the  most  secret  recesses  oi 
the  mountains,  in  order  to  put  an  end  to  their  meetings  for 
prayer;  and  at  length,  by  torture,  and  every  other  method  he 
could  devise,  he  completely  succeeded  in  suppressing  them. 

For  about  twenty  years,  the  Methodists  continued  to  make 
every  effort  in  their  power  to  establish  a  mission  on  this  is- 
land, but,  until  of  late,  all  their  exertions  were  in  vain.  St. 
Eustatia  having  at  length  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  British, 
two  of  the  missionaries  waited  soon  after  on  the  P^nglish 
governor,  and  obtained  liberty  from  him  to  attempt  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  mission  upon  it.  They  now  proceeded  to 
preach  the  gospel,  and  to  collect  together  the  remains  of 
their  former  little   flock  which  had  long   been  scattered. 


by  the  Methodists.  127 

They  soon  united  a  number  of  the  Negroes  into  a  society; 
and  in  the  year  1811,  their  members  amounted  to  two  hun- 
dred and  forty-six.  Besides  preaching  to  the  adults,  the 
missionary  had  upwards  of  a  hundred  children  under  his 
care,  who  made  considerable  progress  in  learning.* 


SECTION  VI 

Nevis. t 

IN  1788,  Dr.  Coke  visited  the  island  of  Nevis,  with  the 
view  of  introducing  the  gospel  among  the  Negro  slaves,  and 
on  his  departure  he  left  a  missionary  to  labour  among  them. 
Many  of  the  most  opulent  planters  at  first  opposed  the  de- 
sign, from  an  apprehension  that  it  would  introduce  a  spirit 
of  insubordination  among  the  Negroes.  Hence,  for  a  con- 
siderable time,  they  would  not  permit  the  Methodists  to  have 
access  to  the  slaves  on  their  estates;  and  when  some,  at  length, 
ventured  to  invite  them,  they  observed  the  utmost  caution 
in  their  manner  of  proceeding:  and  in  some  instances,  the 
missionaries,  after  they  had  preached  a  few  times,  v/ere  dis- 
carded, without  being  informed  of  any  reason  for  such  a 
singular  mode  of  treatment.  They  were  rarely,  however, 
without  employment:  When  dismissed  from  one  plantation, 
they  were  solicited  to  visit  others,  and  after  a  short  season 
were  treated  in  the  same  manner  as  they  had  been  before. 

But  these  clouds,  which  for  a  time  darkened  the  horizon, 
began,  at  length,  to  dispel.  By  degrees  the  congregations 
became  more  numerous,  more  respectable,  and  more  atten- 
tive.    Many  who  hitherto  had  treated  the  gospel  with  con- 

*  Account  of  the  Rise,  See.  of  tlie  Methodist  :\ilssIon8.  Annual  Reports  from 
1806  lo  1811. 

t  Nevis,  is  contiguous  on  the  S.  E.  to  the  Island  of  St.  Christopher's, 
being  separated  from  it  only  by  a  narrow  channel  of  about  a  league  in 
breadth.  Nevis  is  about  two  leagues  in  length  and  one  in  breadth, 
Charlestown  is  its  Capital,  and  is  in  lal.  17°  15'  N.  and  long.  62°  35'  W. 


128 


Propagation  of  Christianity 


tempt,  began  to  view  it  with  veneration,  and  several  of  them 
appeared  to  feel  its  influence  on  their  heart  and  life.  A  res- 
pectable society  was  formed  in  Charlestown,  the  capital  of 
the  island;  and  the  success  which  attended  their  labours  in 
that  town,  induced  many  of  the  planters  to  admit  the  mis- 
sionaries to  their  estates  in  the  country. 

Though  Nevis  is  but  a  small  island,  being  only  about 
twenty- one  miles  in  circumference,  the  Methodists  have  here 
two  chapels,  one  in  the  town,  the  other  in  the  country,  both 
of  which  are  attended  by  respectable  and  attentive  congre- 
gations. Besides  preaching  in  these  places,  the  missionaries 
visit  such  of  the  plantations  as  they  can  conveniently  attend; 
but  the  invitations  which  they  have  of  this  kind  are  more 
numerous  than  they  are  able  to  comply  with.  Throughout 
the  West  Indies  in  general,  the  Sabbath  is  the  common 
market  day;  but  in  Nevis,  many  of  the  White  people  now 
shut  up  their  stores  and  shops,  and  attend  on  divine  worship; 
while  the  Negroes,  who  used  to  spend  that  sacred  day  in 
dancing,  and  drinking,  and  fighting,  now  come  in  crowds  to 
the  house  of  God,  to  hear  his  word,  and  sing  his  praise. 
The  number  of  members  in  the  Methodist  societies  on  this 
island  has  varied  considerably  at  different  periods.  The  fol- 
lowing Table  "will  shew  the  amount  of  them  for  several  years 
past: 


Yea7's. 

Whites. 

Blacks  and 
Coloured. 

Total. 

1803 
1804 
1805 
1807 
1808 
1809 
1810 
1811 

11 
14 

18 
13 

16 

1200 
1400 

1211 
1414 
1350 
1450 
1376 
1091 
1021 
882t 

1358 
1078 

866 

*  Account  of  the  Bise,  &.c.  of  the  Methodist  Missions.  Annua,!  Reports  from 
1806  to  1811, 


by  the  Methodists.  129 

SECTION  VIL 

ToilTOLA    AND    THE    ViRGIN  IsLANDS.^ 

IN  1788,  Dr.  Coke,  in  his  second  voyage  to  the  West 
Indies,  visited  rt'ortola,  and  was  much  delighted  with  the 
favourable  disposition  which  the  Negroes  on  this  island 
manifested  towards  the  gospel.  This,  however,  Was  probably 
only  one  of  those  fallacious  appearances,  by  which  persons 
engaged  in  the  propagation  of  religion,  and  the  Methodists 
in  particular,  have  often  been  deceived;  Tor,  at  first,  the  pro- 
gress of  the  mission  was  slow.  A  society,  however,  was  at 
length  formed  on  the  island,  a  chapel  erected,  and  the  num- 
ber of  hearers  augmented.  Afterwards,  indeed,  the  gospel 
spread  among  the  inhabitants  of  several  of  the  islets  which 
are  scattered  up  and  down  in  its  vicinity,  and,  like  solitary 
rocks,  lift  their  heads  above  the  waves.  To  many  of  these 
the  missionaries  have  paid  frequent  visits  in  open  boats,  to 
the  prejudice  of  their  health,  and  often  at  the  risk  of  their 
life,  in  order  to  preach  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  to  the 
[i^w  forgotten  families  who  inhabit  them.  In  the  Virgin  Isl- 
ands, persons  of  almost  every  description  are  friendly  to 
the  interests  of  religion;  and  even  those  solitary  individuals 
who  are  secretly  inimical  to  its  progress,  are  ashamed  to 
avow  their  hostility. 

As  a  proof  of  the  importance  of  Christianizing  the  Ne- 

*  Tortola  is  one  of  the  Virgin  Islands,  near  the  Island  of  Porto  Rico 
in  the  West  Indies.  It  is  six  leagues  long,  and  two  Broad,  and  in  lat. 
18°  15'  N.  and  long.  64°  35'  W. 

The  Virgin  islands  are  a  cluster  of  small  Islands  in  the  West  Indies, 
to  the  eastward  of  the  Island  of  Port  Rico,  belonging  to  different  Euro- 
pean powers. 

These  Islands  lie  in  about  the  lat.  18°  20' N.  and  extend  for  the 
space  of  twenty-four  leagues  from  E.  to  W.  and  about  f^ixtcen  leagues 
from  N.  to  S. 

VOL.  rr.  R 


130  Propagation  of  Christianity 

groes,  even  in  a  political  point  of  view,  it  is  not  unworthy 
of  notice,   that  soon  after  the  commencement  of  the   war 
with  France,  the  governor  of  Tortola  received  information, 
that  the  French  inhabitants  of  Guadaloupe  meditated  a  des- 
cent on  the  island.    He  immediately  sent  for  Mr.   Turner, 
the  superintendant  of  the  missions  in  Tortola,  and  the  other 
Virgin  islands,  and  having  informed  him  of  this  report,  ad- 
ded, that  there  was  no  regular  force  in  the  colony  to  defend 
it  against  the  enemy,  and  that  they  were  afraid  to  arm  the 
Negroes,  unless  he  would  put  himself  at  the  head  of  them. 
Mr.  Turner  was  sensible,  that  such  a  step  was  not  properly 
within  the  line  of  the  ministerial  office;  but  yet  considering 
that  the  island  was  in  iminent  danger,  that  if  it  were  con- 
quered by  the  French,  the  religious  privileges  of  the  Negroes 
would  probably  be  lost,  and  that  the  war  on  their  part  was 
entirely  of  a  defensive  nature,  he  consented  to  the  governor's 
request,    and   was    accordingly  armed   with  the    Negroes. 
About  a  fortnight  after,  a  French  squadron  made  its  appear- 
ance in  the  bay;  but  being  informed,  it  is  supposed,  by  some 
emissaries,  of  the  armed  force  on  the  island,  they  abandoned 
their  design,  and  retired.* 

In  Tortola,  religion  is  not  only  respected  by  all  descrip- 
tions of  people,  but  is  puplicly  countenanced  by  the  princi- 
pal inhabitants  of  the  island.  In  1809,  it  was  stated,  that 
even  the  chief  magistrates  had  seats  in  the  Methodist  chapels, 
and  regularly  occupied  them.  One  of  the  members  of  his 
majesty's  council  was  a  communicant;  and  in  common  with 
most  of  those  who  filled  the  more  exalted  stations  in  the  Isl- 
and, treated  the  missionaries  with  friendship  and  respect. 

The  following  Table  exhibits  a  view  of  the  members  of 

*  Soon  after  this  event,  the  governoi--gcneral  of  the  Leeward  islands 
sent  an  order  to  the  Methodist  missionaries,  to  make  a  return  of  all 
the  Negroes  in  their  societies  who  were  able  to  carry  arms.  The  re- 
turn was  accordingly  made;  and  a  great  part,  if  not  the  whole  of  them, 
were  armed  for  the  defence  of  the  several  islands.  Such  was  the  con- 
lidence  which  the  governor-general  had  iu  the  loyalty  of  the  mission- 
aries and  of  their  flocks. 


bij  the  Methodists. 


131 


the  Methodist  societies  in  Tortola  and  the  ovher  Virgin  isl- 
ands for  some  years  past: 


Yeai's. 

JFhites. 

Blacks  and 
Coloured. 

Total. 

1804 
1806 
1807 
1808 
1809 
1810 
1811 

38 
38 

39 

52 

56 

2070 
2068 

2108 

2106 

6800* 

2173 

2337 

2298 

21761 

2134 
2285 

2120 

SECTION  VIIL 


Jamaica. 


IN  1789,  Dr.  Coke  visited  this  island  with  the  view  of 
estabhshing  a  mission  upon  it,  and  shortly  after,  a  mission- 
ary arrived  at  Kingston  and  was  received  with  much  kind- 
ness by  a  number  of  the  inhabitants.  They  held  their  meet- 
ings for  some  time  in  a  private  house,  but  as  it  was  small,  and 
situated  near  the  extremity  of  the  town,  they  purchased  a 
large  building  in  a  more  central  situation,  the  upper  part  of 
which  they  converted  into  a  chapel  capable  of  containing 
about  twelve  hundred  people,  while  the  lower  part  was  em- 
ployed as  a  lodging  for  the  missionaries.  On  the  opening 
of  the  chapel,  it  was  frequently  by  some  of  the  Whites,  as 
^vell  as  by  the  Negroes  and  people  of  colour,  but  most  of 
the  former  soon  ceased  to  attend;  and,  indeed,  a  number  of 
the  White  people  became  at  length  so  riotous,  that  it  was 

I  Account  of  the  Bisc,  etc.  of  the  MeAhodist  Missions.  Annual  Reports  from 
J805to  1811. 


132  Propagation  of  Christianity 

impossible,  in  the  evening^^o  meet  for  the  worship  of  God 
in  peace,  both  the^reacher  and  the  hearers  being  often  in 
danger  not^nly  of  mischief,  but  even  of  their  life.  It  was 
in  vain  to  apply  to  the  magistrates  for  justice,  or  even  for 
protection.  One  of  the  rioters,  indeed,  was  prosecuted,  and 
three  respectable  White  people  gave  the  clearest  evidence 
against  him,  but  the  oaths  of  the  Methodists  were  consider- 
ed as  of  no  weight,  and  a  midshipman  being  procured  to 
swear  an  alibi,  the  fellow  was  acquitted  of  the  charge.  In- 
deed, the  grand  jury  presented  the  chapel  as  a  nuisance,  and 
it  is  not  certain  by  what  means  this  presentment  fell  to  the 
ground,  but  it  is  supposed  the  honourable  bench  of  judges 
rejected  it. 

Being  thus  protected,  and  even  encouraged  by  their  su- 
periors, the  mob  did  not  fail  to  proceed  in  their  system  of 
opposing  and  molesting  the  poor  Methodists.  They  not  on- 
ly created  disturbances  in  the  time  of  divine  worship,  but 
they  frequently  beset  the  chapel,  attacked  the  people  with 
the  most  abusive  language,  and  repeatedly  assailed  them 
with  large  stones.  They  at  last  proceeded  to  break  the  front 
gates  leading  to  the  chapel,  and  would  probably  have  com- 
mitted still  further  outrages,  had  not  the  arrival  of  the  town 
guard  checked  their  proceedings.  For  several  weeks,  while 
these  disturbances  lasted,  the  members  of  the  society  Avere 
obliged  to  keep  a  strong  guard  in  the  chapel  during  the 
night.  One  morning,  when  there  was  no  watch,  some  burnt 
coals  were  found  on  the  floor;  a  circumstance  which  gave 
rise  to  a  strong  suspicion,  that  an  attempt  had  been  made 
by  some  incendiaries  to  set  it  on  fire  during  the  night. 

In  consequence  of  these  circumstances,  together  with  the 
ravages  of  sickness  among  the  missionaries,  and  dissensions 
among  the  people,  the  society  which  had  been  formed  was 
reduced  to  a  very  low  ebb.  New  missionaries,  indeed,  ar- 
rived to  supply  the  place  of  those  who  died,  and  made  at- 
tempts to  form  societies  not  only  in  Kingston,  but  in  various 
other  parts  of  the  island.    These  efforts,  however,  were  at- 


by  the  Methodists.  133 

tended  with  little  success.  The  White  people  in  general, 
slighted  the  gospel,  or  were  even  inveterate  against  it;  and 
as  this  was  the  case  with  them,  the  poor  Negroes  were  de- 
barred fr  m  hearing  the  M^ord,  most  of  the  planters  being 
averse  to  the  religious  instruction  of  their  slaves.  Such  was 
the  low  state  of  the  Methodist  mission  in  Jamaica  for  a  num- 
ber of  years.  As  ^  efc,  however,  the  government  of  the  island 
had  taken  no  part  against  it;  but  at  length  the  legislature  in- 
terfeired,  and  displayed  a  steadiness,  an  energy,  and  a  zeal 
worthy  of  a  better  cause. 

In  April  1802,  some  of  the  preachers  visited  Morant  Bay, 
a  place  about  thirty  miles  from  Kingston,  and  in  the  course 
of  a  few  months  they  collected  a  society  in  that  place  of  about 
ninety  members.  The  enemies  of  religion,  however,  did  not 
view  their  progress  with  indifference  or  unconcern.  Having 
excited  a  violent  persecution  against  them,  they  presented 
the  places  in  which  their  meetings  were  held  as  nuisances  to 
the  quarter  sessions  of  the  parish;  but  being  able  to  produce 
nothing  against  either  the  preachers  or  their  hearers,  contra- 
ry to  the  laws  of  God  or  man,  they  were  compelled,  though 
with  reluctance,  to  drop  the  prosecution.  The  meetings, 
therefore,  were  continued,  as  no  legal  opposition  could  be 
made  to  them,  and  they  met  with  no  interruption  for  some- 
time, except  from  the  lawless  rabble,  and  a  kw  disorderly 
people  about  the  place.  But  here  the  matter  did  not  long  rest. 
In  December  following,  the  assembly  of  Jamaica  passed  an 
act  by  which  it  was  decreed,  that  no  person,  unless  he  was 
qualified  by  the  laws  of  that  island  and  of  Great  Br  tain, 
should  preach  or  perform  the  services  of  religion,  in  meet- 
ings of  Negroes  or  people  of  colour;  that  persons  oifending 
against  this  law  should  be  deemed  rogues  and  vagabonds, 
and  as  such  be  committed  to  the  work-house,  and  kept 
to  hard  labour,  one  month  for  the  first  ofience,  and  six 
months  for  every  repetition  of  it;  nay,  should  the  case  be 
extraordinary,  that  the  assizes  might  inflict  any  punishment 
not  extending  to  life;  that  if  the  criminal  was   a  slave,  he 


134  Propagation  of  Christianity 

should,  for  the  first  offence,  be  committed  for  hard  labour 
to  the  nearest  work-house  for  one  month,  and  for  every  sub- 
sequent offence  be  subjected  to  a  public  flogging,  not  ex- 
ceeding thirty-nine  lashes;  and  it  was  added,  that  any  person 
who  should  knowingly  permit  such  a  meeting  to  be  held  on 
his  premises,  should  be  liable  to  a  fine  not  exceeding  100/. 
and  be  committed  to  the  common  gaol  until  he  should  pay 
it,  and  give  security  for  his  future  good  behaviour.* 

As  this  act  of  the  legislature  of  Jamaica  professed  to  pro- 
Jiibit  only  qualified  persons  from  preaching  to  the  Negroes 
and  people  of  colour,  the  Methodist  missionaries  did  not  ap- 
prehend that  they  came  within  the  meaning  of  the  law,  as 
they  were  possessed  of  regular  licenses,  which  they  had  ob- 
tained in  England,  and  which  would  have  been  admitted  as 
valid  in  any  court  of  justice  in  Great  Britain.  Mr.  Camp- 
JDell  therefore  continued  to  preach  as  usual  in  Kingston,  and 
met  with  no  kind  of  interruption;  but  when  he  proceeded  to 
preach  at  Morant  Bay,  he  was  apprehended  and  taken  be- 
fore the  magistrates,  who  committed  him  to  prison,  notwith- 
standing he  produced  to  them  a  certificate  of  his  being  du- 
ly qualified  according  to  the  laws  of  England.  When  the 
month  of  his  imprisonment  expired,  he  returned  to  King- 
ston, and  having  applied  to  the  magistrates  of  that  town  to 
qualify  him  over  again,  his  request  was  immediately  gran- 
ted. After  preaching  about  two  months  in  Kingston,  he 
once  more  visited  Morant  Bay;  but  as  this  was  a  different 
parish,  he  did  not  venture  to  preach,  though  he  had  been 
qualified  under  the  new  law,  without  asking  leave  of  the 
magistrates  in  that  quarter.  He,  therefore,  respectfully  pe- 
titioned them  for  permission  to  qualify  before  them  also,  if 
thtv  required  it;  but  they  returned  for  answer,  that  they 
would  grant  him  no  licence  to  preach,  and  as  a  punishment, 
it  would  seem,  for  even  askipg  leave  to  qualify,  they  revi- 
ved the  old  prosecution  against  him,  though  it  had  now  been 

•  Alethodisl  Magazine,  vol.  xxvi.    Appendix,  p.  9- 


by  the  Methodists.  13.^ 

dropped  for  sometime.  Not  content  with  his  former  im- 
prisonment,  they  endeavoured  to  apprehend  him  for  the  pen- 
alty  of  100/.  and  to  make  him  bring  security  that  he  would 
in  effect  never  preach  more;  and  unless  he  had  found  such 
security,  he  was  informed,  he  might  have  been  doomed  to 
perpetual  imprisonment.  Mr.  Campbell  therefore;  by  the 
advice  of  his  friends,  made  his  escape  from  Jamaica  and  re- 
turned to  England,  leaving  his  fellow  missionary  Mr.  Fish 
to  take  care  of  die  flock  at  Kingston,  where  they  still  had 
the  liberty  of  preaching.  The  serious  people  at  Morant 
Bay,  however,  were -now,  in  a  great  measure,  left  destitute 
of  the  means  of  grace.  One  of  them,  a  very  sensible  and 
respectable  man,  was  imprisoned  for  a  month,  simply  for 
singijig  and  praying  with  a  few  friends.  All  social  worship 
\YVis  now  at  an  end;  nor  was  the  mischief  confined  to  this 
place,  for  the  new  law  was  employed  as  an  engine  for  put- 
ting a  stop  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  in  various  other 
parts  of  the  island.* 

Happily  however,  when  this  iniquitous  bill  was  laid  be- 
fore his  majesty,  for  his  royal  sanction,  it  was  disallowed  by 
him;  and  information  of  this  being  communicated  to  the 
house  of  assembly  in  December  1804,  the  pious  people  of 
Jamaica,  after  a  lapse  of  two  years,  u'ere  permitted  to  re- 
sume their  social  meetings  for  the  public  worship  of  God.  i 

But  though  the  bill  was  disallowed  by  his  majesty,  tht 
assembly  of  Jamaica  endeavoured  to  elude,  as  far  as  possible, 
the  effect  of  die  royal  negative,  and  to  establish  a  system  of 
persecution  equally  terrible,  at  least  within  the  precincts  of 
Kingston.  An  act  of  the  legislature  of  the  island  having 
been  procured  for  erecting  a  corporation  in  the  capital,  an 
opportunity  was  taken  of  introducing  into  it  a  clause,  by 
which  the  corporation  of  that  town  were  empowered,  among 
a  variety  of  other  particulars,  to  impose  on  all  who  should 

*  Evan;;o\ical  Mat^riy.inc,  vol.  xli.  p.  l.'iG.   MclIiocVisl  M:ip;;i/-lnc.  vol.  xwii.p. f)(). 
t  Missionary  Mii^a/iuc,  vol.  x.  n,  Vr.\. 


136  Propagation  of  Christianity 

violate  their  regulations,  fine  and  imprisonment  to  a  large 
extent.  The  design  of  this  clause  was  probably  not  per- 
ceived by  the  Board  of  trade,  and  accordingly  the  act  ob- 
tained the  sanction  of  his  majesty.  As  the  proceedings  of 
the  corporation  of  Kingston  were  not  subjected  to  the  re- 
vision of  the  King,  this  circumstance  was  soon  improved  as 
a  mean  of  reviving  the  old  system  of  persecution.  In  June 
1807,  the  common  council,  under  a  pretence  of  zeal  for  the 
purity  of  religion,  passed  an  act  by  which  any  person  not 
duly  authorized  by  the  laws  of  the  island  and  of  Great  Bri- 
tain, who  should  presume  to  preach  or  teach,  or  offer  up 
public  prayers,  or  sing  psalms  in  any  meeting  of  Negroes 
or  people  of  colour,  within  the  city  or  parish,  should,  if  a 
free  person,  suffer  punishment  by  a  fine  not  exceeding  100/. 
or  by  imprisonment  in  the  common  gaol  or  work-house,  for 
any  space  not  exceeding  three  months;  and,  if  a  slave,  by 
imprisonment  and  hard  labour  for  a  period  not  exceeding 
six  months,  or  by  whipping  not  exceeding  thirty-nine  lash- 
es, or  both;  that  a  similar  punishment  should  be  inflicted  on 
every  person  who  permitted  such  an  illegal  meeting  in  his 
house  or  premises;  and  that  even  in  a  licenced  place  of  wor- 
ship, there  should  be  no  public  worship  earlier  than  six  in 
the  morning,  or  later  than  sunset  in  the  evening,  under  a  like 
penalty.* 

This  cruel  law  was  necessarily  confined  to  the  town  and 
parish  of  Kingston;  but  in  the  month  of  November  follow- 
ing, the  assembly  of  the  island,  under  the  pretence  of  excit- 
tnii^  the  proprietors  of  Negroes  to  instruct  them  in  the  prin- 
ciples of  religion,  passed  an  act,  ordaining  that  the  instruc- 
tion of  slaves  should  be  confined  to  the  doctrines  of  the  es- 
tablished church;  that  no  missionaries  should  be  allowed  to 
teach  them,  or  to  receive  them  into  their  houses  or  assem- 
blies, under  the  penalty  of  20/.  for  every  slave  proved  to 
have  been  present;  and  if  the  offender  refused  payment,  he 

*  Christian  Observer,  vol.  vi.  p.  686.  Evangelical  Magazine,  vol,  xv.  p.  4*1. 


by  the  Methodists.  137 

should  be  committed  to  the  county  gaol  until  the  fine  was 
discharged.* 

The  assembly  knowing  that  such  a  measure  would  be  dis- 
approved of  by  his  majesty,  resorted  to  the  trick  of  engraft- 
ing it  upon  an  act  to  continue  the  general  system  of  the  slave 
laws,  which  had  been  consolidated  into  a  temporary  act  that 
was  then  about  to  expire.  Their  agent  was  of  course  in- 
structed to  represent,  that  if  the  act  of  continuation  was  dis- 
allowed, Jamaica  would  be  left  destitute  of  slave  laws,  a  cir- 
cumstance which  could  not  fail  to  endanger  the  peace  and 
safety  of  the  island:  but  the  Board  of  trade  found  a  way  to 
frustrate  this  sliameful  artifice,  by  advising  his  majesty  to 
disallow  both  the  act  in  question,  and  the  act  of  repeal,  which 
had  never  expressly  received  the  royal  sanction,  though  it 
had  been  several  years  in  force.  The  general  slave  laws, 
therefore,  were  by  this  means  still  established,  and  only  the 
persecuting  clauses  of  this  new  bill  disannulled. 

But  as  the  legislature  of  Jamaica,  by  the  stratagem  of  de- 
laying to  transmit  the  act  for  the  royal  sanction,  while  it  had 
its  operation  in  the  island  under  that  of  the  governor,  had, 
for  more  than  a  year,  suspended  the  meetings  of  the  Negroes 
for  public  worship,  his  majesty,  to  prevent  the  repetition  of 
such  shameful  proceedings  in  that  or  any  of  the  other  islands 
issued  a  general  order  in  May  1809,  to  the  governors  in  the 
West  Indies,  commanding  them,  that  they  should,  on  no 
pretence  whatever,  give  their  assent  to  any  law  relative  to 
religion,  until  they  had  first  transmitted  a  draught  of  the  bill 
to  England,  and  had  received  his  majesty's  approbation  of  it, 
unless  in  the  body  of  the  act  there  was  a  clause  inserted,  sus- 
pending  its  operation,  until  the  pleasure  of  his  majesty  should 
be  known  respecting  it.f 

Enraged  at  this  new  disappointment,  the  assembly  of  Ja- 
maica came  to  various  resolutions  on  the  state  of  the  island, 
in  which  they  declared,  that  the  prohibition  of  passing  laws  on 

•  Evangelical  Magazine,  vol.  xviii.  ]>.  "7.        f  Ibid,  vol  xvij.  p,  296.  34?, 
VOL.  II.  S 


138  Propagation  of  Christianity 

the  subject  of  religion  was  a  violent  infringement  of  the  con- 
stitution of  the  colony;  that  until  it  was  withdrawn,  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  house  to  exercise  their  privilege  of  with- 
holding  supplies;  and  that  after  a  certain  period,  until  this 
grievance  was  redressed,  no  money  should  be  granted  or  rai- 
sed within  the  island  for  the  support  of  the  military  establish- 
ment. In  consequence  of  these  violent  proceedings,  the 
duke  of  Manchester,  the  governor,  immediately  dissolved 
the  assembly.* 

Not  discouraged  by  these  strong  measures,  the  assembly, 
in  November  1810,  passed  a  new  act  on  the  subject  of  reli- 
gion, and  introduced  into  it  such  regulations  relative  to  the 
licensing  of  preachers  and  places  of  worship,  as  plainly  shew- 
ed that  it  was  their  design  to  prevent  the  instruction  of  the 
Negroes  by  those  who  alone  were  willing  to  teach  them. 
This  law,  indeed,  was  to  continue  in  force  only  during  the 
year  1811;  but  this  very  circumstance,  which  might  seem 
trivial,  displayed  the  artfulness  of  the  assembly,  being  no 
doubt  intended  to  elude  his  majesty's  disallowance  of  the 
bill  as  by  the  time  that  could  be  notified,  the  law  would  have 
expired,  and  perhaps  a  new  act  be  passed.  How  the  gover- 
nor, in  direct  contradiction  to  an  express  command  from  his 
majesty,  should  have  given  his  assent  to  such  a  bill  it  is  not 
easy  to  ex  plain.  | 

The  Methodists  were  the  persons  chiefly  aimed  at  by  the 
legislature  of  Jamaica  in  all  the  laws  which  they  passed  on 
the  subject  of  religion;  and  it  is  obvious  that  their  progress 
could  scarcely  fail  to  be  impeded  by  such  frequent  acts  of 
hostility.  Many  of  their  members,  as  might  naturally  be  ex- 
pected,  drew  back,  while  others  were  prevented  by  their 
masters  from  attending  divine  worship;  but  yet  it  appears, 
from  the  following  Table,  that  the  numbers,  on  the  whole, 
have  rather  increased  than  diminished; 

•  Evangelical  Magazine,  vol.  xviii.  p.  128. 

f  Christian  Observer,  vol.  ix.  p.  601.  Evangelical  Magazine,  vol.  xix.  p.  395,  4o9. 


by  the  Methodists', 


139 


Years. 

Total. 

Years. 

Total. 

1792 

170 

1807 

1000 

1794 

280 

1809 

814 

1797 

400 

1810 

866 

1304 

635 

1811 

865t 

1806 

832 

We  are  concerned  to  state,  that  the  spirit  of  opposition  to 
the  instruction  of  the  slaves  in  Jamaica  still  continues,  not- 
withstanding the  repeated  interference  of  his  majesty's  gov- 
ernment. In  August  1812,  Mr.  Wiggins,  one  of  the  Metho- 
dist missionaries  in  Jamaica,  \vas  thrown  into  prison  for  a 
month,  for  preaching  in  their  chapel  on  the  Lord's  day,  and 
indeed  the  magistrates  appeared  to  be  determined  that  the 
missionaries  should  not  be  permitted  to  preach  in  any  part  of 
the  island. t 


SECTION  IX. 

General  Observations. 

BESIDES  these  missionary  establishments,  the  Metho- 
dists have  sent  preachers  to  Barbadoes,  St.  Bartholomew's, 
Grenada,  Trinidad,  St.  Thomas's,  New  Providence,  and  the 
other  Bahama  Islands;*  but  as  nothing  interesting  or  im- 
portant occurs  in  the  history  of  these  missions,  we  shall  pass 
them  without  further  notice,  and  shall  only  subjoin  a  gene- 
ral view  of  the  state  of  the  whole  in  the  year  1811. 


f  Acc.iint  of  tlie  Rise,  8tc.  of  the  Methodist  Missions.  Annual  Reports  froin 
1806  to  1811. 

\  Buchanan  on  a  Colonial  Ecclesiastical  Establishment,  p.  86. 
*  Account   of  the  liise,  Sec.  of  the  Methodist  Missions. 


140 


Propagation  of  Christianity 


Islands. 

c 
9 

'to 

1 

IS 

0 
(A    ;-. 
^    3 
0    0 

la  0 

2385 
2322 

2120 

1121 

866 

Total. 

Antigua 

St.  Christopher's 

Tortola,  and  the  other  Virgin  7 

Islands                                      5 
St.  Vincent's 
Nevis 
Jamaica 
Dominica 
New  Providence  and  the  other  } 

Bahama  Islands                       5 
St.  Eustatia 
St.  Bartholomew's 
Trinidad 
Bermuda 
Grenada 
St.  Thomas's 
Barbadoes 

3 

4 

4 

3 
2 
2 

2 

3 

1 
1 
1 

1 

22 
31 

56 

12 
16 

2407 
2353 

.176 

1133 

882 
865 
609 

505 

246 

200 

188 

135 

93 

69 

40 

254 

3 

2 
29 

251 

243 
200 
1S6 
106 

Total 

07 

11,901*  t 

-^  / 

Besides  the  missions  on  the  West  India  islands  connected 
with  the  Conference  in  Enghmd,  the  Methodists  in  America 
have  laboured  with  considerable  success  among  the  negroes 
and  people  of  colour  in  that  quarter  of  the  globe,  as  appears 
from  the  following  statement  of  the  numbers  of  them  who 
were  members  of  the  Societies  in  the  year  1804: 


*  Minutes  of  the  Methodist  Conference,  1811,  p.  51,  40. 

t  Since  that  time,  their  numbers  have  considerably  increased.  At 
the  Conference  held  in  July  1813,  the  members  of  the  Methodist  Socie- 
ties in  the  West  Indies  were  stated  at  15,220. — Evangelical  Magazine. 
vol.  xxi.  p.  302. 


by  the  Methodists.  141 

Western  Conference  518 

Southern       do.  3,446 

Virginia        do.  3,757 

Baltimore     do.  6,877 

Philadelphia  do.  8,442 

New- York     do.  432 

New-England  do.  59 


Total  23,531* 

Besides  the  negroes  and  people  of  colour,  who  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  societies  in  the  West  Indies  and 
America,  it  is  necessary  to  remark,  that  there  are  still  greater 
numbers  who,  though  not  in  connection  with  them,  attend 
upon  their  worship,  and  enjoy  the  benefit  of  their  instruc- 
tions. In  1793,  their  regular  congregations  in  the  West 
India  islands  alone  comprehended  at  least  thirty  thousand 
persons;  and  in  1809,  it  was  estimated  that  they  consisted  of 
not  less  than  a  hundred  and  twenty  thousand,  most  of  whom 
would  otherwise  have  been  left  totally  destitute  of  the  means 
of  religious  instruction. 

In  comparing  the  numbers  in  the  Methodist  societies  in 
successive  years,  nothing  is  more  striking  than  the  frequent 
and  even  sudden  variations  which  have  taken  place  in  the 
amount  of  their  numbers.  It  must,  however,  be  remarked, 
that  the  negroes  in  the  Methodist  societies  are  not  like  the 
members  of  other  churches;  few  of  them  comparatively  have 
been  baptized  or  admitted  to  the  Lord's  Supper;  they  have 
simply  agreed  to  submit  to  the  discipline  of  the  Methodists, 
and  professed  a  desire  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come;  so 
that,  as  these  are  the  only  qualifications  which  are  necessary 
to  constitute  a  member,  it  is  no  wonder  that  their  number 
is  liable  to  great  variations.  Besides,  the  missionaries  are, 
in  general,  not  fixed,  but  ambulator}^,  in  the  same  manner  as 

*  Methodist  Mag'axinc,  vol.  xxviii.  p.  4r. 


142  Propagation  of  Christianity 

their  preachers  are  in  this  country.  After  remaining  two  or 
three  years  in  one  island,  they  remove  to  another,  and  are 
succeeded  by  a  new  brother;  a  circumstance  which  must 
have  no  small  influence  in  producing  this  irregularity  in  the 
number  of  their  members. 

The  Methodist  missions  in  the  West  Indies  are  subject 
to  the  general  direction  of  the  Conference,  or  annual  meeting 
of  their  preachers;  by  whom  they  have  hitherto  been  com- 
mitted to  the  particular  superintendence  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Coke,  whose  zealous  and  indefatigable  exertions  have  been 
the  principal  mean  of  their  original  establishment  and  their 
subsequent  support.  To  assist  him  in  the  management  of  so 
arduous  and  important  a  charge,  the  Conference  have  also 
appointed  a  committee  of  finance  and  advice,  consisting  of 
all  the  ministers  of  the  connection  resident  in  London.* 

It  is,  perhaps,  scarcely  necessary  to  remark,  that  few  of 
the  missionaries  are  men  of  what  is  usually  termed  liberal 
education.  "  Though  we  judge,"  say  the  committee,  "  that 
human  learning,  if  accompanied  with  piety  and  humility,  is 
not  only  a  desirable  embellishment,  but  a  very  important 
advantage  to  Christian  missionaries,  yet  we  by  no  means 
deem  it  indispensably  necessary.  We  have  found  by  expe- 
rience, that  men  of  sound  judgment,  of  ready  utterance,  and 
burning  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  men, 
well  acquainted  with  experimental  religion,  with  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  and  the  great  doctrines  of  Christianity,  though 
destitute  of  classical  learning,  have  been  the  instruments  of 
converting  thousands  from  the  error  of  their  ways,  and  of 
building  up  believers  in  their  most  holy  faith  The  aid  of 
men  thus  qualified  and  thus  honoured  we  dare  not  refuse, 
when  immortal  creatures  are  perishing  *  for  lack  of  know- 
ledge. '  But  we  endeavour  to  be  very  careful  that  all  our 
missionaries,  if  not  men  of  general  science,  should  at  least 
understand  that  particular  science  which  they  are  employed 
tQ  teach,  the  gospel  of  Christ  Jesus." 

•  Methodist  Magazine,  vol.  xxviii.  p.  234; 


by  the  Methodists.  143 

"  The  leading  doctrines  taught  by  all  our  missionaries  are 
the  following:  The  eternal  existence  of  God,  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Spirit;  the  total  ignorance,  sinfulness,  misery,  and 
helplessness  of  man;  the  necessity  of  remission  of  sins,  and 
of  a  complete  renewal  of  the  heart  in  knowledge,  righteous- 
ness, and  true  holiness,  after  the  image  of  him  that  created 
us;  the  infinite  mercy  and  grace  of  God,  as  the  only  source 
of  man's  redemption;  and  the  atonement  made  by  Jesus 
Christ  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world.  They  constantly 
affirm,  that  the  mediatorial  work  of  Christ  is  the  sole  merito- 
rious cause  of  salvation;  that  whatever  subordinate  means 
may  be  employed,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  grand  and  proper 
agent  of  the  work  of  grace  in  the  heart;  that  repentance 
towards  God,  and  faith  towards  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  are 
necessary  to  the  sinner's  actual  participation  of  pardon  and 
eternal  life;  and  that  believers  must  persevere  in  holiness  to 
the  end  of  their  days,  in  order  that  their  labour  may  not  be 
in  vain  in  the  Lord."* 

Among  the  members  of  the  Methodist  societies  in  the 
West  Indies,  there  are  not  a  few,  we  hope,  who  are  sincere 
converts  to  the  Christian  faith,  though  we  fear  there  is  a  con- 
siderable tincture  of  enthusiasm  among  them.  All  of  them 
so  far  as  is  known,  fulfil  with  propriety  the  relative  duties  of 
life,  even  their  own  masters  being  judges;  or  if  any  occa- 
sionally transgress  the  rules  of  morality,  they  are  excluded 
from  the  connection,  at  least  after  neglecting  due  reproof. 
They  have  all  abandoned  the  practice  of  polygamy,  the 
besetting  sin  of  the  negroes;  and  the  fotal  influence  of  Obeah, 
or  witchcraft,  which  is  often  productive  of  most  terrible  mis- 
chief, among  the  slaves,  is  eifectually  destroyed  wherever 
Christianity  prevails.  As  a  proof  of  the  general  good  con- 
duct of  the  converts,  it  is  not  unworthy  of  notice,  that  when 
an  office  which  requires  trust  and  confidence  becomes  va- 
cant, such  as  that  of  a  watchman,  it  is  a  usual  practice  with 
the  planters  and  managers  to  enquire  for  a  religious  negro 

*  Methodist  Magazine,  vol.  xxviii.  p,  235, 


144  Propagation  of  Christianity  ^c. 

to  fill  it.  Indeed,  in  Antigua,  Nevis,  Tortola,  and  St.  Vin- 
cent's, the  proprietors  of  estates,  and  the  other  inhabitants, 
are  so  fully  satisfied  with  the  conduct  of  the  missionaries, 
and  so  sensible  of  the  political  as  well  as  moral  and  religious 
advantages  resulting  from  their  labours,  that  they  entirely 
support  the  missions  in  these  islands  by  their  voluntary  con-^ 
tributions.* 

*  Methodist  Magazine,  vol,  xxvii.  p.  S/T. 


CHAPTER  VIIL 


PHOPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY  BY  THE  BAPTIST  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 


East  Indies.* 

IN  October  1792,  a  few  Baptist  ministers  assembled  at 
Kettering  in  Northamptonshire,  and  united  in  instituting  a 
society  for  propagating  the  gospel  among  the  Heathen.  They, 
at  the  same  time,  opened  a  subscription  for  this  important 

*  It  may  be  proper  here  to  give  the  reader  a  brief  account  of  the  diffi- 
culties that  lie  in  the  way  of  the  free  circulation  of  the  gospel  in  India, 
by  Protestant  missionaries.  Those  difficulties  which  arise  from  the  ig- 
norance and  superstition  of  Paganism  were  principally  detailed  in  a 
note  subjoined  to  chap.  5.  of  vol.  1.  Those  which  are  the  most  formid- 
able, arise  out  of  the  despotic  establishment  of  Roman  Catholic  institu- 
tions, and  are  now  to  be  noticed. 

Doctor  Buchanan,  in  speaking  of  the  gross  darkness  that  covers  Pa- 
gan countries,  says,  "  There  is  a  moral  darkness  in  the  East,  of  a  dif- 
ferent character  from  tliat  of  Paganism,  I  mean  the  darkness  of  the 
Roman  superstition  in  Pagan  lands.  Upwards  of  two  centuries  ago. 
Papal  Rome  established  her  inquisition  in  India,  and  it  is  still  in  opera- 
tion. By  this  tribunal,  the  power  of  the  Romish  church  was  consolida- 
ted in  that  herarspliere.  From  Goa,  as  a  centre,  issues  the  orders  of  the 
Santa  Casa,  or  Holy  Office,  to  almost  every  nation  of  the  East;  to  the 
Western  coast  of  Africa,  where  there  are  many  Roman  churches;  and 
tlipnce  to  their  settlements  along  the  shores  of  the  continent  of  Asia, 
as  far  as  China  and  the  Pliilippine  Isles.  Ships  of  war.  and  ships  of 
commerce  have  ever  been  under  its  command:  for  the  vice-roy  of  Goa 
himself  is  subject  to  its  jurisdiction;  and  these  ships  aftbrd  tiie  means 
of  transmitting  orders  to  all  countries,  of  sending  forth  priests,  and 
sometimes  of  bringing  back  victims. 

Besides  the  spiritual  tyranny  of  the  Inquisition,  there  exists,  in  cer- 
tain provinces,  a  corruption  of  Christian  doctrine  more  heinous  than 
can  easily  be  credited.  In  some  places,  the  ceremonies  and  rites  of 
Moloch  are  blended  with  the  worship  of  Christ!  This  spectacle  I  myself 

VOL.  II.  T 


146  Propagation  of  Christianity 

purpose;  but  the  whole  sum  contributed  on  that  occasion 
amounted  only  to  thirteen  pounds  two  shillings  and  sixpence. 
As  soon,  however,  as  the  object  of  the  society  was  known, 
they  met  with  further  encouragement  and  support,  not  only 

have  witnessed  at  Aughoor,  near  Madura,  in  the  south  of  India.  The 
chief  source  of  the  enormity  is  this:  the  Inquisition  would  not  give  the 
Bihle  to  the  people.  In  some  provinces  I  found  that  the  Scriptures  were 
not  known  to  the  common  people,  even  hy  name;  and  some  of  the  priests 
themselves  assured  me  tliat  they  had  never  seen  them." 

The  Pagans  of  the  hiji;hest  cast,  in  many  parts  of  India,  have  more 
knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  than  the  Koman  Catholics.  The  most  dis- 
cerning 01  the  Hindoos  themselves  who  have  read  the  Bible,  say.  that 
the  Romish  religion  is  an  abuse  of  the  Christian  name,  and  the  offspring 
of  despotism  and  hypocrisy.  Indeed,  so  well  convinced  are  the  natives 
of  India,  of  the  Scriptures  containing  the  best  standard  of  moral  recti- 
tude, that,  on  a  certain  occasion,  when  they  doubted  the  purpose  and 
good  faith  of  the  English  they  applied  to  Mr.  Swartz,  the  missionary,  to 
send  them,  to  transact  some  particular  business,  a  person  who  had 
learned  the  Ten  Commandments.* 

The  reader  will  consider  the  following  account  of  the  propagation  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  religion  in  India,  taken  from  Dr.  Buchanan's  Re- 
searches, as  given  to  shew  that  secular  glory,  sacred  titles,  combined 
with  great  swelling  words  of  vanity,  Avill  never  allure  men  from  dumb 
idols  to  serve  the  living  and  true  God,  nor  the  terror  of  Inquisitions 
transfuse  light  into  their  understanding,  and  compel  them  to  repentance 
towards  God  and  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  but  that  it  is  evident, 
that  the  word  of  life  must  have  free  course,  in  order  that  God  may  be 
glorified  in  its  dispensation,  and  the  understandings  of  men  enlightened, 
and  they  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  their  minds,  by  the  energetic  influence 
accompanyina;  the  principles  of  the  gospel.  Except  these  things  concur 
and  unite  in  the  propagation  of  '"  the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed 
God,"  instead  of  ameliorating,  men  v.^ill  deteriorate  the  moral  condition 
of  the  Heathen,  and  make  them  two-fold  more  the  children  of  wrath 
than  the^  were  before. 

"THE  ROMISH  CHRISTIANS  IN  INDIA. 

"  In  every  age  of  the  Church  of  Rome  there  have  been  individuals,  of 
an  enlightened  piety  who  derived  their  religion  not  from  the  command- 
ments of  men,  but  from  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible.  There  are  at  this 
day,  in  India  and  in  England,  members  of  that  communion,  who  deserve 
the  affection  and  respect  of  all  good  men;  and  whose  cultivated  minds 
will  arraign  the  corruptions  of  their  own  religion,  which  I  am  about  to  de- 
describe.  I  am  indeed  prepared  to  speak  of  Roman  Catholics  with  as  much 
liberality  as  perhaps  any  Protestant  has  ever  attempted  on  Christian  prin- 
ciples: for  I  am  acquainted  with  individuals  whose  unaffected  piety  1  con- 
sider a  I  eproacli  to  a  great  body  of  Protestants,  even  the  strictest  sort. 

•  Buchanan's  Researches. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  147 

from  the  members  of  their  own  communion,  but  from  Chris- 
tians of  other  denominations.* 

About  the  same  time,  Mr.  John  Thomas,  who  of  lat& 
years,  had  made  some  attempts  for  the  propagation  of  Chris- 

•  Periodical  Accounts  relative  to  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  vol.  i.  p.  3,48- 

It  is  indeed  painful  to  saj  any  tiling  which  may  seem  to  feeling  and  no- 
ble minds  ungenerous;  but  those  enlightened  persons,  whose  good  opin- 
ion it  is  desirable  to  preserve,  will  themselves  be  pleased  to  see  that 
ti'uth  is  not  sacrificed  to  personal  respect,  or  to  a  spurious  candour. 
Their  own  church  sets  an  example  of  •'  plainness  of  speech"  in  the 
assertion  of  those  tenets  which  it  professes,  some  of  wliich  must  be  ex- 
tremely painful  to  the  feeling  of  Protestants  in  their  social  intercourse 
Avith  Catholics;  such  as,  "•  that  there  is  no  salvation  out  of  the  pale  of 
the  Romish  Church.*' 

"  This  exclusive  character  prevents  concord  and  intimacy  between 
Protestant  and  Catholic  families.  On  the  principles  of  infidelity  they 
can  associate  very  easily;  but  on  the  principles  of  religion,  the  Protest- 
ant must  ever  bo  on  the  defensive;  for  the  Romish  Church  excommuni- 
cates him:  and  although  he  must  hope  that  some  individuals  do  not 
maintain  the  tenet,  yet  his  uncertainty  as  to  the  facts  prevents  that  cor- 
diality which  he  desires.  Many  excellent  Catholics  suffer  unjustly  in 
their  intercource  with  Protestants,  from  the  ancient  and  exclusive  arti- 
cles of  their  own  Church,  which  they  themselves  neither  profess  nor 
believe.  If  they  will  only  intimate  to  their  Protestant  friends,  that  they 
renounce  the  exclusive  principle,  and  that  they  profess  the  religion  of 
the  Bible,  no  more  seems  requisite  to  form  with  such  persons  the  sin- 
ccrest  friendship  on  Christian  principles. 

"  At  the  present  time  we  see  the  Romish  religion  in  Europe  without 
dominion;  and  hence  it  is  viewed  by  the  mere  philosopher  with  indif- 
ference or  contempt.  He  is  pleased  to  see,  that  "  the  seven  heads  and 
the  ten  horns"  are  taken  away;  and  thinks  nothing  of  tJie  "  names  of 
blasphemy."  But  in  the  following  pages,  I  will  have  occasion  to  shew 
what  Rome  is,  as  having  dominion;  and  possessing  it  too  within  the  boun- 
daries of  tlie  British  empire. 

"  In  passing  through  the  Romish  provinces  in  the  East,  though  I 
had  before  heard  much  of  tiie  Papal  corruptions,  I  certainly  did 
not  expect  to  see  Christianity  in  the  degraded  state  in  which  I  found 
it.  Of  the  priests  it  may  truly  be  said,  that  they  are,  in  general,  better 
accjuainted  with  the  Veda  or  Brama  than  with  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  In 
some  places  the  doctrines  of  both  are  blended.  At  Aughoor,  situated 
between  Tritchinoply  and  Madura,  I  Vvitnessed  (in  October  1806  the 
Tower  of  Juggernaut  employed  to  solemnize  a  Christian  iestival.  The 
old  priest  Josephus  accompanied  me,  when  I  surveyed  the  idolatrous 
car  and  its  painted  figures,  and  gave  me  a  particular  account  of  the 
various  ceremonies  which  are  perfornied,  seemingly  unconscious  himself 
of  any  impropriety  in  them.  I  went  with  him  afterwards  into  the  church, 
and  seeing  a  book  lying  on  the  altar,  opened  it;  but  the  reader  may 


148  Fropagation  of  Christianity 

tianity  in  Bengal,  was  in  London,  endeavouring  to  establish 
a  fund  for  sending  missionaries  to  that  country,  and  was  him- 
self anxious  to  obtain  a  suitable  companion  to  return  with 
him.   He  had  first  sailed  to  Bengal  in  1.83,  as  surgeon  of 

judge  of  my  surprise  when  I  found  it  was  a  Sjriac  volume,  and  was 
informed  that  the  priest  himself  was  a  descendant  of  the  Syrian  Chris- 
tians, and  helonged  to  what  is  now  called  the  Syro-Roman  Church,  the 
whole  service  of  which  is  in  Syiiac.  Thus,  by  the  intervention  of  the 
Papal  power,  are  the  ceremonies  of  Moloch  consecrated  in  a  manner 
by  the  sacred  Syriac  language.  What  a  heavy  i-esponsibility  lies  on 
Rome,  for  having  thus  corrupted  and  degraded  that  pure  and  ancient 
churc!i! 

"  While  I  viewed  these  Christian  corruptions  in  different  places,  and 
in  difteretit  forms,  I  was  always  referred  to  the  Inquisition  at  Goa.  as 
the  fonntain-head.  I  had  long  cherished  the  hope,  that  I  should  be  able 
to  visit  Goa  iiefore  I  left  India.   My  chief  objects  were  the  following: 

"  1.  To  ascertain  v/hether  the  Inquisition  actually  refused  to  recognize 
the  Bible,  among  the  Romish  Churches  in  British  India. 

"  2.  To  inrjuire  into  the  state  and  jurisdiction  of  the  Inquisition,  par- 
ticularly as  it  aiiected  British  subjects. 

'•  3.  To  learn  what  was  the  system  of  education  for  the  priesthoodj 
and, 

•'  4.  To  examine  the  ancient  Church  libraries  in  Goa,  which  were  said 
to  contain  all  the  books  of  tiie  first  printing. 

•'  I  will  select  from  my  journal,  in  this  place  chiefly  what  relates  to 
the  Inquisition.  I  had  learnt  from  every  quarter  that  this  tribunal,  for- 
merly so  well  known  for  its  frequent  burnings,  was  still  in  operation, 
thou2;h  under  some  restrictions  as  to  the  publicity  of  its  proceedings; 
and  that  its  power  extended  to  the  extreme  boundary  in  Hindostan. 
That,  in  the  present  civilized  state  of  Christian  nations  in  Europe,  an 
Inquisition  should  exist  at  all  under  their  authority,  appeared  strange; 
but  that  a  Papal  tribunal  of  this  character  should  exist  under  the  im- 
plied toleration  and  countenance  of  the  British  government;  that  Chris- 
tians, being  subjects  to  the  British  empire,  and  inhabiting  the  British 
territories,  should  be  amenable  to  its  power  and  jurisdiction,  was  a 
statement  which  seemed  scarcely  credible;  but,  if  true,  a  fact  which 
demanded  the  most  public  and  solemn  representation." 

"  Goa;  Convent  of  the  Aug-ustinians,  January  23,  1808. 
"  On  my  arrival  at  Goa,  I  was, received  into  the  house  of  captain 
Schuyler,  "the  British  Resident.  The  British  force  here  is  commanded 
by  colonel  Adams,  of  his  majesty's  78th  Regiment,  with  whom  1  was 
formerly  well  acquainted  in  Bengal.*  Next  day  I  was  introduced  by 
these  gentlemen  to  the  vice-roy  of  Goa,  the  count  de  Cabral.  I  intima- 

*  The  forts  In  the  harbour  of  Goa  were  tlien  occupied  by  British  troops,  two 
King's  i-ej»-iinei)ts  and  two  regiments  of  native  infantry,  to  prevent  its  fulling  into 
the  ijands  of  the  French. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  149 

the  Oxford  East  Indiuman,  and  immediately  on  his  arrival, 
he  tried  to  set  on  foot  some  plan  for  the  spread  of  the  gos- 
pel in  that  benighted  region.  He  failed,  however,  in  the  at- 
tempt at  that  time;  and   having  returned  Avith  the  ship  to 

ted  to  his  excellency  my  wish  to  sail  up  the  river  to  Old  Goa,*  (where 
the  Inquisition  is,)  to  which  he  politely  acceded.  Major  Pareira,  of  tlie 
Portuguese  establishment,  who  was  present,  and  to  whom  I  had  letters 
of  introduction  from  Bengal,  offered  to  accompany  me  to  the  city,  and 
introduce  me  to  the  archbishop  of  Goa,  the  primate  of  tiie  Orient. 

"  I  had  communicated  to  colonel  Adams,  and  to  the  British  Resident, 
my  purpose  of  inquiring  into  the  state  of  the  Inquisition.  These  gen- 
tlemen informed  me,  that  I  should  not  be  able  to  accomplish  my  design 
without  difficulty,  since  every  thing  relating  to  the  Inquisition  was  con- 
ducted in  a  very  secret  manner,  the  most  respectable  of  tlie  Lay  Por- 
tuguese themselves  being  ignorant  of  its  proceedings;  and  that,  if  the 
priests  were  to  discover  my  object,  their  excessive  jealousy  and  alarm 
would  prevent  their  communicating  with  me,  or  satisfying  my  entjuiries 
on  any  subject. 

"  On  receiving  this  intelligence,  I  perceived  that  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  proceed  with  caution.  I  was,  in  fact,  about  to  visit  a  republic  of 
priests,  whose  dominion  had  existed  for  nearly  three  centuries;  whose 
province  it  was  to  prosecute  heretics,  and  particularly  the  teachers  of 
heresy;  and  from  whose  authority  and  sentence  there  was  no  appeal  in 
India;  for  I  was  informed  that  the  vice-roy  of  Goa  has  no  authority  over 
tlie  Inquisition,  and  that  he  himself  is  liable  to  its  censure.  Were  tlie 
British  government,  for  instance,  to  prefer  a  complaint  against  the  In- 
quisition to  the  Portuguese  government  at  Goa,  it  could  obtain  no  re- 
dress. By  the  very  constitution  of  the  Inquisition,  there  is  no  power 
in  India  which  can  invade  its  jurisdiction,  or  even  put  a  question  to  it 
on  any  subject. 

"  It  happened  that  lieutenant  Kempthorne,  commander  of  his  majes- 
ty's brig  Diana,  a  distant  connexion  of  my  ov.'n,  was  at  this  time  in 
the  harbour.  On  his  learning  that  I  meant  to  visit  Old  Goa,  he  oifered 
to  accompany  me;  as  did  also  captain  Sterling,  of  his  majesty's  84th 
Regiment,  which  is  now  stationed  at  tlie  forts. 

"  We  proceeded  up  the  river  in  the  British  Resident's  barge,  accom- 
panied by  major  Pareira,  who  was  well  qualified  by  a  thirty  years'  re- 
sidence, to  give  information  concerning  local  circumstances.  From  him 
I  learned  that  there  were  upwards  of  two  hundred  churches  and  chapels 
in  the  province  of  Goa,  and  upwards  of  two  thousand  priests. 

"  It  was  past  twelve  o'clock  when  we  arrived  at  the  city:  all  tiie 

•  Tliere  is  Old  and  New  Goa.  Tlie  old  city  is  about,  eig'iit  miles  up  the  river. 
The  vice-roy  and  chief  Portufyuese  iiih.abltaiUs  reside  at  New  (ioa,  which  is  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  within  the  forts  of  the  harbour.  The  old  city,  where  the  Iiiqiil- 
sitioii  and  tiie  churches  arc,  is  now  almost  entirely  deserted  by  the  secular  Portu- 
guese, and  is  inhabited  by  the  priests  alone.  The  unhealthiness  of  the  place,  and 
the  ascendancy  of  the  priests,  arc  the  causes  assijjncd  for  abandoning'  the  aucien'v 
city. 


150  Propagation  oj*  Christianity 

England,  he  was  baptized  in  London,  and  began  to  exhort 
in  private  societies,  and  to  preach  in  different  places,  both  in 
town  and  country.  In  1786,  he  made  a  second  voyage  to 
Bengal,  as  surgeon  of  the  same  ship,  and  on  his  arrival,  he 

churches  were  shut,  and  we  were  told  they  would  not  be  opened  again 
till  two  o'clock. 

"  In  entering  the  city  we  passed  through  the  palace  gate,  over  which 
is  the  statue  of  Vasco  de  Gama,  who  first  opened  India  to  the  view  of 
Europe.  1  had  seen  at  Calicut,  a  few  weeks  before,  the  ruins  of  the 
Samorin's  palace,  in  which  Vasco  de  Gama  was  first  received.  The  Sa- 
niorin  was  the  native  prince  against  whom  the  Europeans  made  war. 
The  empire  of  the  Samorin  has  passed  away;  and  the  empire  of  his 
conquerors  has  passed  away;  and  now  imperial  Britain  exercises  domin- 
ion. May  imperial  Britain  be  prepared  to  give  a  good  account  of  her 
stewardship,  when  it  shall  be  said  unto  her,  "  thou  mayestbe  no  longer 
steward." 

"  I  mentioned  to  major  Pareira,  that  T  intended  to  stay  at  Old  Goa 
some  days;  and  that  I  should  be  obliged  to  him  to  find  me  a  place  to 
sleep  in.  He  seemed  surprised  at  this  intimation,  and  observed  that  it 
would  be  difficult  for  n.e  to  obtain  a  reception  in  any  of  the  cburclies  or 
convents,  and  that  there  were  no  private  houses  into  whicli  1  could  be 
admitted.  I  said  I  could  sleep  any  where;  I  had  two  servants  with  me, 
and  a  travelling  bed.  When  he  perceived  that  I  was  serious  n  my  pur- 
pose, he  gave  directions  to  a  civil  ofiicer.  in  hat  place,  to  clear  out  a 
room  in  a  building  which  had  been  long  uninha'^ited,  and  which  was  then 
used  as  a  warehouse  for  goods.  Matters  at  this  time  presented  a  very 
gloomy  appearance;  and  I  had  thoughts  of  returning  with  my  compan- 
ions froHi  this  inhospitable  place.  In  the  mean  time  we  sat  down  in  the 
room  I  have  just  mentioned,  to  take  some  refseshment,  while  major 
Pareira  went  to  call  on  sonte  of  liis  friends.  During  this  interval,  I 
communicated  to  lieutenant  Kempthorne  the  object  of  my  visit  I  had 
In  my  pocket  "  An  Account  of  tSe  Inquisition  at  Goa,"  by  Mmsieur 
Dellon,  a  pl)ysician  wlw  had  been  imprisoned  in  the  dungeon  thereof 
for  two  vears^and  witnessed  an  Auto  da  Fe,  when  some  .heretics  were 
burned;"at  wiiich  time  he  walked  barefoot.  After  his  release  he  wrote 
the  historv  of  his  confinement.  His  descriptions  are  in  general  very  ac- 
curate, of  which  I  mentioned  some  particulars.  While  we  were  conver- 
sin"-  on  the  subject,  the  great  bell  of  the  Cathedral  began  lo  toll:  the 
same  which  Dellon  observes  always  tolls  before  day-Hght  on  the  niorn- 
ino-  of  the  Auto  da  Fe.  I  did  not  myself  ask  any  questions  of  the  people 
co^cernin^'the  Inquisition;  but  jNIr.  Kempthorne  made  enquires  for  me: 
and  he  soon  found  out  that  the  Santa  Casa,  or  Holy  Office,  was  close  to 
the  house  where  we  were  then  sitting.  Tlie  gentlemen  went  to  the 
window  to  view  the  horrid  mansion;  and  I  could  see  the  indignation  of 
free  and  enlightened  men  arise  in  the  countenances  of  the  two  British 
officers,  while  they  contemplated  a  place  where  farmerly  their  own 
countrymen  were  condemned  to  the  fhimes,  and  into  which  they 
themselves  might  now  suddenly  be  thrown,  without  the  possibility  of 
rescue. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  151 

met  with  a  few  pious  people,  with  whom  he  a.^reed  to  have 
a  meeting  for  prayer,  and  afterwards  he  preached  to  them 
every  Sabbath  evening.  Among  the  number  of  these  Chris- 
tian friends,  was  Mr.  G ,  a  gentleman  who  since 

"  At  two  o'clock  we  went  out  to  view  the  churches,  whicli  were  now 
open  for  the  afternoou  service;  for  there  are  regular  daily  masses;  and 
the  hells  hegn  to  assail  t!ie  ear  in  ever;y  quarter. 

"  The  mao-nificence  of  the  churches  of  Goa  far  exceeded  any  idea  I 
had  formed  from  the  previous  description.  Goa  is  properly  a  city  of 
churches;  and  the  wealt'i  of  provinces  seems  to  have  heen  expended  in 
their  erection.  The  ancicut  specimens  of  architecture  at  this  place  far 
excel  any  thing  that  has  been  attempted  in  modern  times  in  any  other 
part  of  the  East,  hoth  in  grandeur  and  taste.  The  chapel  of  the  palace 
is  built  after  the  plan  of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  and  is  said  to  be  an  accu- 
rate model  of  that  paragon  of  architecture.  The  church  of  St.  Dominic, 
the  founder  of  the  Inquisition,  is  decorated  with  paintings  of  Italian 
masters.  St.  Francis  Xavier  lies  enshrined  in  a  monument  of  exquisite 
art,  and  his  coffin  is  enchased  with  silver  and  precious  stones.  The 
Catliedral  of  Goa  is  worthy  of  one  of  tlie  principal  cities  of  Europe; 
and  the  church  and  convent  of  tlie  Augustinians  (in  which  I  now  reside) 
is  a  noble  pile  of  building,  situated  on  an  eminence,  and  has  a  magnifi- 
cent appearance  fro'n  afar. 

"  But  what  a  contrast  to  all  tliis  grandeur  of  the  churches  is  the  wor- 
ship offered  in  them!  I  have  been  present  at  the  service  in  one  or  other 
of  tlie  chapels  every  day  since  I  arrived;  and  I  seldom  see  a  single  wor- 
sliipper  but  the  ecclesiastics.  Two  rows  of  native  priests,  kneeling 
in  order  before  the  altar,  clotbed  in  coarse  black  garments,  of  sickly  ap- 
})earance  and  vacant  countenance,  perform  here,  from  day  to  day,  their 
laborious  masses,  seemingly  unconscious  of  any  other  duty  or  obligation 
of  life. 

"  The  day  was  now  far  spent,  and  my  companions  were  about  to 
leave  me.  While  I  was  considering  whetlier  I  should  return  with  them. 
Major  Pareira  said  he  would  first  introduce  me  to  a  Priest,  high  in 
office,  and  one  of  the  most  learned  men  in  the  place.  We  accordingly 
Avalked  to  the  Convent  oftlie  Augustinians,  where  I  was  presented  to  Jo- 
sephus  a  Doloribus,  a  man  weli  advanced  in  life,  of  pale  visage  and  pen- 
etrating eye,  rather  of  a  reverend  appearance  and  possessing  great  flu- 
ency of  speech  and  urbanity  of  manners.  At  fust  sight  he  presented 
the  aspect  of  one  of  those  acute  and  prudent  men  of  tlie  world,  the  learn- 
ed and  respectable  Italian  Jesuits,  some  of  whom  are  yet  found,  since 
the  dcnolition  of  their  order,  i-epusing  in  tranquil  obscurity  in  different 
parts  of  the  Kast.  After  ■  alfan  hour's  conversation  in  the  Latin  lan- 
guage, during  which  he  averted  rapidly  to  a  variety  of  subjt'cts,  and  in- 
<iuired  concerning  some  learned  men  of  bis  own  Church  whom  I  had 
visited  in  my  tour,  lie  politely  invited  me  to  take  up  my  residence  with 
him  during  mv  stay  at  Old  Goa.  I  was  highly  gratified  by  this  unex- 
pected invitation;  but  Lieutenant  Kempthorne  did  not  approve  cf  leav- 
ing me  in  tlie  bands  of  the  IrKjuintor.  For  judge  of  our  surprise  when 
we  discovered  that  my  learned  host  was  one  of  the  Inquisitors  of  the 


152  Propagation  of  Christianity 

that  period,  has  risen  to  some  of  the  most  important  and  hon- 
ourable offices  in  the  service  of  the  East  India  Company,  both 
at  home  and  abroad.  Pleased  with  the  labours  of  Mr.  Tho- 
mas in  their  private  meetings,  this  excellent  man  expressed 


holy  office,  the  second  member  of  that  august  tribunal  in  rank  but  the 
first  and  the  most  active  agent  in  the  business  of  the  department. 
Apartments  were  assigned  to  me  in  the  College  adjoining  the  Convent, 
next  to  the  rooms  of  the  Inquisitor  himself;  and  here  I  have  been  now 
iour  days  at  the  very  fountain-head  of  information,  in  regard  to  those 
sunjects  which  I  wished  to  investigate.  I  breakfast  and  dine  with  the 
Inquisitor  almost  every  day,  and  he  generally  passes  his  evenings  in 
my  apartment.  As  he  considers  my  enquiries  to  be  chiefly  of  a  lite- 
rary nature,  he  is  perfectly  candid  and  communicative  on  all  subjects. 

"  Next  day  after  my  arrival,  I  was  introduced  by  my  learned  con- 
ductor to  the  Archbishop  of  Goa.  We  found  him  reading  the  Latin 
Letters  of  St.  Francis  Xavier.  On  my  adverting  to  the  long  duration 
of  the  city  of  Goa,  while  other  cities  of  Europeans  in  India  had  suffer- 
ed from  war  or  revolution,  the  Archbishop  observed  that  the  preserva- 
tion of  Goa  was  "  owing  to  the  prayers  of  St.  Francis  Xavier."  The 
Inquisitor  looked  at  me  to  see  what  I  thought  of  the  sentiment.  I  ac- 
knowledged that  Xavier  was  considered  by  the  learned  among  the  Eng- 
lish to  have  been  a  great  man.  What  he  wrote  himself  bespeaks  him 
a  man  of  learning,  of  original  genius,  and  great  fortitude  of  mind;  but 
what  others  have  written  for  him  and  of  him  has  tarnished  his  fame,  by 
making  him  the  inventor  of  fables.  The  Archbishop  signified  his  as- 
sent! He  afterwards  conducted  me  into  his  private  Chapel,  which  is 
decorated  with  nnages  of  silver,  and  then  into  the  Archiepiscopal  Li- 
brary, which  possesses  a  valuable  collection  of  books.  As  I  passed 
through  our  convent,  in  returning  from  the  Archbishop's,  I  observed 
among  the  paintings  in  the  cloisters  a  portrait  of  the  famous  Alexis  de 
Menezes,  Arclibishop  of  Goa,  who  held  the  Synod  of  Diamper  near 
Cochin  in  1599,  jind  burned  the  books  of  the  Syrian  Christians.  From 
the  inscription  underneath  I  learned  that  he  was  the  founder  of  the  mag- 
nificent Church  and  Convent  in  which  I  am  now  residing." 

"  On  the  same  day  I  received  an  invitation  to  dine  with  the  chief 
Inquisitor,  at  his  house  in  the  country.  The  second  inquisitor  accom- 
panied me,  and  we  found  a  respectable  number  of  Priests,  and  a  sump- 
tuous entertainment.  In  the  library  of  the  chief  Inquisitor  I  saw  a 
register  containing  the  present  establishment  of  tlie  Inquisition  at  Goa, 
and  the  names  of  all  the  of&cers.  On  my  asking  the  chief  Inquisitor 
whether  the  establishment  was  as  extensive  as  formerly,  he  said  it  was 
nearly  the  same.  I  had  hitherto  said  little  to  any  person  concerning 
the  Inquisition,  but  I  had  indirectly  gleaned  much  information  con- 
cerning it,  not  only  from  the  inquisitors  themselves,  but  from  certain 
Priests,  whom  I  visited  at  their  respective  convents;  particularly  from 
a  Father  in  the  Franciscan  Convent,  who  had  himself  repeatedly  wit« 
nessed  an  Auto  da  Fe." 


hy  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  153 

a  wish  that  he  should  remain  in  the  country,  learn  the  lan- 
guage, and  preach  the  gospel  to  the  natives.  Nothing, 
however,  could  be  more  foreign  from  Mr.  Thomas's  own 
views.     Anxious  as  he  was  for  the  evangelizing  of  the  Hin- 


"  Goa,  Augiistinian  C-onvent,  2i''>th  Jan.  1808. 

"Oil  Saturday,  after  Divine  Service,  wliich  1  attended,  v.e  looked* 
over  together  the  prayers  and  portions  of  Scripture  foj-  (he  day,  which 
led  to  a  discussion  concerning  some  of  the  doctrines  of  Christianity. 
We  then  read  the  third  chapter  of  St.  John's  Gospel,  in  the  Latin  Vul- 
gate. I  asked  the  Inquisitor  whether  he  believed  in  the  inliuence  of 
the  Spirit  there  spoken  of.  He  distinctly  admitted  itj  conjointly  how- 
ever, he  thought,  in  some  obscure  sense,  with  water.  1  observed  that 
water  was  merely  an  embem  of  the  purifying  effects  of  the  Spirit,  and 
could  be  hut  an  emblem.  We  next  adverted  to  the  expression  of  St. 
Jolin  in  his  first  Epistle;  '♦  This  is  he  that  came  by  water  and  blood: 
even  Jesus  Christ;  not  by  water  ordy,  but  by  Mater  and  blood:" — blood 
to  atone  for  sin,  and  water  to  purify  the  heart;  justification  and  sanc- 
tificationr  both  of  which  were  expressed  ftt  the  same  moment  on  the 
Cross.  The  Inquisitor  was  pleased  with  the  subject,  I  referred  to 
tlie  evangelical  doctrines  of  Augustin  (we  were  now  in  the  Augustiniau 
Convent)  plainly  asserted  by  that  Father  in  a  thousand  places,  and  he 
acknowledged  their  truth.  I  then  asked  him  in  what  important  doc- 
trine he  differed  from  the  Protestant  Church.^  He  confessed  that  he 
never  had  a  theological  discussion  with  a  Protestant  before.  By  au 
easy  transition  we  passed  to  the  importance  of  the  Bible  itself,  to  illu- 
minate the  priests  and  people.  I  noticed  to  him  that  after  looking  through 
the  colleges  and  schools,  there  appeared  to  me  to  be  a  total  eclipse  of 
Scriptural  light.  He  acknowledged  that  religion  and  learning  were 
truly  in  a  degraded  state.  I  had  visited  the  theological  schools,  and 
at  every  place  I  expressed  my  surprise  to  the  tutors  in  presence  of  the 
pupils,  at  the  absence  of  the  Bible,  and  almost  total  want  of  reference  to 
it.  They  pleaded  the  custom  of  the  place,  and  the  scarcity  of  copies 
of  tlie  book  itself.  Some  of  the  younger  Priests  came  to  me  afterwards, 
desiring  to  know  by  what  means  they  might  procure  copies.  This  in- 
quiry for  Bibles  was  like  a  ray  of  hope  beaming  on  tlie  walls  of  the  In- 
quisition. 

"I  pass  an  hour  sometimes  in  the  spacious  library  of  the  Augustini- 
au Convent.  There  are  many  rare  volumes,  but  they  are  chiefiy  the- 
ological, and  almost  all  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Tliere  are  i^w  clas- 
sics; and  I  have  not  yet  seen  one  copy  of  the  original  Scriptures  in  li^e- 
brew  or  Greek." 

"  Goa,  Aiigustinian  Convent,  27lh  Jan.  1,818. 
"  On  the  second  morning  after  my  arrival,  I  was  surprised  by  my 
host,  the  Inquisitor,  coming  into  my  apartment  clothed  in  black  robes 
from  head  to  foot;  for  the  usual  dress  of  his  order  is  white.  He  said 
he  was  g(»:ng  to  sit  on  the  Tribunal  of  the  Holy  office.  "  I  presume, 
Father, your  august  office  does  not  occupy  much  of  your  time.-^"  '•  Yes/' 

VOL.  n  U 


154  Propagation  of  Christianity 

doos,  he  had  himself  no  particular  inclination  to  the  work; 
he  disliked  ihe  climate,  and  dreaded  a  longer  separation  from 
his  family,  and  thought  there  was  no  probability  of  the  cap- 
tain's giviiig  him  leave  to  stay  in  the  country,  or  of  another 

answered  he,  "  uuicli.  1  sit  on  tiic  Tribunal  three  or  four  days  every 
week." 

"  I  had  thouii;ht,  for  some  days,  of  putting;  Dc!lon-s  book  into  the 
Inquisitor's  hands;  for  if  I  could  '^tt  liini  to  advert  to  tl;e  facts  stated 
in  that  book.  I  should  be  able  to  learn,  by  comparison,  the  exact  state  of 
the  Inquisition  at  that  time. 

"  The  following  were  tiie  passages  in  Mr.  Dellon's  narrative,  to  which 
I  wished  particuhirly  to  draw  tlie  attention  of  the  Inquisitor.  IVIr.  D. 
had  been  thrown  into  the  Inquisition  at  Goa,  and  confined  in  a  dungeon. 
t%\\  feet  square,  where  be  remained  upwards  of  two  years,  witliout  seeing 
any  person  but  the  gaoler,  who  brouglit  him  his  victuals,  except  when 
he  was  brought  to  ids  trial,  expecting  daily  to  be  brouglit  to  the  stake. 
His  aliedged  crime  was,  charging  the  inquisition  Avith  cruelty,  in  a  con- 
versation he  had  with  a  Priest  at  Daruav.  anot'ger  part  of  India. 

"  During  the  months  of  November  and  December,  1  heard,  everv 
tnorning,  the  shrieks  of  the  unfortunate  victims,  who  were  undergoing 
the  Question.  I  remembered  to  have  heard  before  I  was  cast  into  pri- 
son, that  the  Auto  da  Fe  was  generally  celebrated  on  the  fast  Hmiday 
in  Advent,  because  on  that  day  is  read  in  the  Chnrches  that  part  of  the 
Oospel  in  which  mention  is  made  of  the  last  juncrMENr:  and  the  In- 
q«isitors  pretend  by  this  ceremony  to  exhibit  a  lively  emblem  of  that 
awful  event.  I  v/as  likewise  convinced  tliat  there  were  a  great  number 
of  prisoners,  besides  m3^seif;  the  profound  silence,  v.liich  reigned  within 
the  walls  of  the  building,  having  enabled  me  to  count  the  number  of 
doors  which  were  opened  at  the  hours  of  meals.  However,  the  lirst  and 
second  Sundays  of  Advent  passed  Ijy,  without  iny  hearing  of  any  thing, 
and  I  pi-epared  to  undergo  anotlier  year  of  melancholy  rnptivity,  when 
I  was  aroused  from  my  despair  on  the  11th  of  January,  by  the  noise  of 
the  guards  removing  the  bars  from  the  door  of  my  prison.  The  Alcaide 
presented  me  wiHi  a  habit,  which  he  ordered  me  to  put  on,  and  to  make 
myself  ready  to  attend  him,  wlien  he  should  come  again.  Thus  saying,, 
he  left  a  lighted  lamp  in  my  dungeon.  The  guards  returned,  about  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  led  me  out  into  a  long  gallery,  where  I  found 
a  number  of  the  companions  of  my  fate,  drawn  up  in  a  rank  against  a 
wall:  I  placed  myself  among  the  lest,  and  several  more  soon  joined  the 
mehincholy  band.  The  profound  silence  and  stillness  caused  them  to 
resemble  statues  more  than  the  animated  bodies  of  human  creatures. 
The  women,  who  were  clothed  in  a  similar  manner,  were  placed  in  a 
neiglibouring  gallery,  where  we  could  not  see  them;  but  J  remarked 
that  a  number  of  persons  stood  by  themselves  at  some  distance,  atten- 
ded by  others  who  wore  long  black  dresses,  and  who  walked  backw-ards 
and  forwards  occasionally.  1  did  not  tiien  know  who  these  were;  but 
1  was  af"tervvards  informed  that  the  former  were  the  victims  who  were 
condemned  to  be  burned,  and  the  others  were  their  confessors. 

»<  After  we  were  all  ranged  against  the  wall  of  this  gallery,  we   re- 


by  the  Baptist  Missionanj  Society.  15>5 

siirg-eon  being  found  to  supply  his  place.  But  though  he 
had  at  first  no  idea  of  acceeding  to  the  proposal,  it  continued 
to  haunt  his  mind,  and  to  excite  his  serious  consideration. 
Beins:  a  man  of  most  exouisite  sensibility,  as  well  as  of  ar- 

ceived  each  a  hvrj^e  \va\'  tappr.  They  then  brought  us  a  nuni])erof  dres.- 
ses  made  of  ycIUtw  clotli,  ^ith  the  cross  of  St.  Andrew  ]>alnted  before 
and  behitnl  "  This  is  calk'd  the  San  Benito.  The  relapsed  heretics 
wear  aiiothor  species  of  ro!>e,  called  t!ie  Scanarra^  tlie  ground  of  whicli 
is  grev.  The  poi-trait  of  the  suUerer  is  painted  upon  it,  placed  upon 
burning  torches  with  flames  and  demons  all  around.  Caps  were  then 
pioduced.  called  CarrochaK;  made  of  pasteboard  painted  like  sugar- 
loaves,  all  covere<l  (tver  wilh  devils,  and  flames  of  lire. 

'•Tiie  great  b.ell  of  tlie  Cathedral  bei^an  to  rin.^  a  little  before  sun- 
rise, which  served  as  a  signal  to  warn  the  people  of  Goa  to  come  and 
behold  \\\2.  august  ceremony  of  the  Auto  da  Fe;  and  they  made  us  proceed 
froiM  the  gallery  one  by  one.  I  I'cn^arked  as  we  passed  into  th^  great 
hall,  that  the  Inquisitor  was  sitting  at  the  door  v/itii  !ns  secretary  by  him, 
and  that  he  delivered  every  prisoner  into  the  hands  of  a  particular  per- 
son, who  is  to  be  his  guard  to  the  place  of  burning.  These  persons  are 
called  Parains,  or  Godfathers.  My  Godfather  was  the  commander  of 
a  ship.  I  went  forth  with  him,  and  as  soon  as  we  were  in  the  street, 
I  saw  that  the  procession  was  commenced  by  the  Dominican  Friars': 
who  have  this  honour,  because  St.  Dominic  founed  the  Inquisition. 
These  are  followed  by  the  prisoners,  who  walk  one  aftser  the  other,  each, 
having  his  Godfather  by  his  side,  and  a  lighted  taper  in  his  hand.  The 
least  guilty  go  foreniost;  and  as  1  did  not  pass  for  one  of  them,  there 
were  many  who  toctk  precedence  of  me.  The  women  were  mixed  pro- 
miscuously with  the  n>en.  We  all  walked  barefoot,  and  the  sharp  stones 
of  the  streets  of  Goa  wounded  my  tender  feet,  and  caused  i\\&  blood  to 
stream;  for  they  made  us  march  througli  the  chief  streets  of  the  city: 
and  we  were  guarded  every  where  by  an  Innumerable  crowd  of  people, 
who  had  assemhleil  from  all  parts  of  India  to  behold  this  spectacle;  for 
the  Inquisition  takes  care  to  announce  it  long  before,  in  the  most  remote 
parislies.  At  length  we  arrived  at  the  Church  of  St.  Francis,  which 
was,  for  this  time,  destined  for  the  celebration  of  the  Act  of  Faith.  On 
one  side  of  the  Altar  was  the  Grand  Inquisitor  and  his  Counsellors;  and 
on  the  other,  the  Vice- Roy  of  Goa  and  his  Comt.  All  the  prisoners  are 
seated  to  hear  a  Sermon.  I  observed  that  those  prisoners  who  wore  the 
horrible  Currocha.i  came  in  last  in  the  j)rocession.  One  of  the  Augustin 
Monks  ascended  the  pulpit,  and  preached  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  The 
sermon  being  concluded,  two  readers  w^wt  up  to  the  pulpit,  one  after 
the  other,  and  read  the  sentences  of  the  prisoners.  My  joy  was  extreme, 
when  I  heard  that  my  sentence  was  not  to  be  burnt,  but  to  be  a  galley- 
slave  for  five  years.  After  the  sentences  were  read,  they  sununoned 
forth  tliose  miserable  victims  wlio  were  destined  to  be  iunnolated  by  the 
Holy  Inquisition.  The  images  of  the  heretics  who  had  died  in  prison 
were  brought  up  at  the  same  time,  their  bones  being  co!)tHined  in  small 
chests,  covered  with  Uames  and  demons.  An  officer  of  the  secular  tri- 
bunal now  caan;  forward,  and  seized  these  unhappy  people,  after  they 


156  /Propagation  of  Christianity 

dent  piety,  his  heart  was  melted  with  the  view  of  the  igno- 
rance, superstition,  and  misery  of  the  Hindoos;  and  notwith- 
standing the  difficulties  of  the  undertaking,  he  at  length  resol- 
ved to  remain  in  the  country,  and  to  preach  among  the  poor 

had  each  received  a  slight  blow  iifion  the  breast^  from  the  Alcaide,  to 
intimate  that  they  were  abandoned.  They  were  then  led  away  to  the 
bank  of  the  river  Vv-here  the  faggots  had  been  prepared  the  preceeding 
day.  As  soon  as  they  arrive  at  this  place  the  condemned  persons  are 
asked  in  what  religion  they  choose  to  die;  and  the  moment  they  have  re- 
plied to  this  question,  the  executioner  seizes  them,  and  binds  them  to 
a  stake  in  the  midst  of  the  faggots.  The  day  after  the  execution,  the 
portraits  of  the  dead  are  carried  to  the  Church  of  the  Dominicans.  The 
heads  only  are  represented,  (which  are  generally  very  accurately  drawn; 
for  the  Inquisition  keeps  excellent  limners  for  the  purpose,)  surrounded 
by  flames  and  demons;  and  underneath  is  the  name  and  crime  of  the  per- 
son who  has  been  burned."  Relation  de  r Inquisition  de  Goa,  chap.  xxiv. 
"  In  the  evening  he  ca-.ne  in,  as  usual,  to  pass  an  hour  in  my  apartment. 
After  some  conversation,  I  took  the  pen  in  ray  hand  to  write  a  feM 
notes  in  my  journal;  and,  as  if  to  amuse  him,  while  I  was  writing,  I 
took  up  Dellon's  book,  which  was  lying  with  some  others  on  the  table. 
and  handing  it  across  to  him,  asked  him  whether  he  had  ever  seen  it. 
It  was  in  the  French  language,  which  he  understood  M'ell.  "  Relation 
de  I'Inquisition  de  Goa,"  pronounced  he,  with  a  slow  articulate  voice. 
He  had  never  seen  it  before,  and  began  to  read  with  eagerness,  He 
had  not  proceeded  far,  before  he  betrayed  evident  symptoms  of  unea- 
siness. He  turned  iiastily  to  the  middle  of  the  book,  and  then  to  the 
end,  and  then  over  tlie  table  of  contents  at  the  beginning,  as  if  to  ascer- 
tain the  full  extent  ot  the  evil.  He  tlien  conqjoscd  himself  to  read, 
wliile  I  continued  to  write.  He  turned  over  the  pages  with  rapidity, 
and  when  he  came  to  a  certain  place,  he  exclaimed  in  the  broad  Italian 
accent,  "  Mendacium!  Mendacium!"  I  requested  he  would  mark  those 
passages  which  were  untrue,  and  we  should  discuss  them  afterwards, 
for  that  I  had  other  books  on  the  subject.  "  Other  books,"  said  he. 
and  he  looked  witli  an  enquiring  eye  on  those  on  the  table.  He  con- 
tinned  reading  till  it  was  time  to  retire  to  rest,  and  then  begged  to  take 
the  book  with  liiin. 

"  It  was  on  this  night  that  a  circumstance  happened  which  caused 
my  first  alarm  at  Goa.  My  servants  slept  every  night  at  my  chamber 
door,  in  the  long  gallery  which  is  common  to  all  the  apartments,  and 
not  far  distant  from  the  servants  of  the  convent.  About  midnight  I  was 
awaked  bv  loud  shrieks  and  expressions  of  terror,  from  some  persons 
in  the  gallery.  In  the  first  moment  of  surprise  I  concluded  it  must  be 
the  Alguazils  of  the  Holy  Office,  seizing  m.y  servants  to  carry  them  to 
the  Inquisition.  But,  on  going  out,  I  saw  my  own  servants  standing  at 
the  door,  and  the  person  who  liad  caused  the  alarm  (.ahoy  of  about  14) 
at  a  little  distance,  suri'ounded  by  some  of  the  priests,  who  had  coniK 
out  of  their  cells  on  hearing  the  noise.  The  boy  said  he  had  seen  a 
spectre,  and  it  was  a  considerable  time  before  the  agitations  of  his  body 
and  voice  subsided.  Next  morning  at  breakfast  the  Inquisitor  apologized 


hy  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  157 

deluded  natives,  "the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ."  With 
this  view  he  began  in  1777  to  learn  the  Bengalee  language, 
and  after  sometime  he  was  able  not  only  to  converse  and  to 
preach  in  it  so  as  to  be  understood  by  the  people;  but  he 

for  the  disturbance,  and  said  tlie  boy's  alarm  proceeded  from  a  'phan- 
tasma  animi,'  a  phantasm  of  the  imagination. 

"  After  breakfast  we  resumed  the  subject  of  the  Inquisition.  The  In- 
quisitor admitted  that  Dellon's  description  of  the  dungeons,  of  the  tor- 
ture, of  the  mode  of  trial,  and  of  the  Auto  da  Fe,  were^  in  general, 
Just;  but  he  said  the  writer  judged  untruly  of  the  motives  of  the  Inqui- 
sitors, and  very  uncharitably  of  the  character  of  the  Holy  Church;  and 
1  admittetl  that  under  the  pressure  of  his  peculiar  suffering,  this  might 
possibly  be  tlie  case.  The  Inquisitor  was  now  anxious  to  know  to  what 
extent  Dellon's  book  had  been  circulated  in  Europe.  I  told  him  that  Pi- 
cart  had  published  to  the  world  extracts  from  it,  in  his  celebrated  work 
called  "  Religious  Ceremonies,"  together  with  plates  of  tlie  system  of 
torture  and  burnings  at  the  Auto  da  Fe.  I  added  that  it  was  now  gene- 
rally believed  in  Europe  that  these  enormities  no  longer  existed,  and 
that  the  Inquisition  itself  had  been  totally  suppressed,  but  that  I  was 
concerned  to  find  that  this  was  not  the  case.  He  now  began  a  grave 
narration  to  shew  that  the  Inquisition  had  undergone  a  change  in  some 
respects,  and  that  its  terrors  were  mitigated." 

"  I  had  already  discovered,  from  written  or  printed  documents,  tliat 
the  Inquisition  at  Goa  was  suppressed  by  a  royal  edict  in  tlie  year  1775. 
and  established  again  in  1779.  The  Franciscan  Father  before  mention- 
ed witnessed  the  annual  Auto  da  Fe,  from  1770  to  1775.  'It  was  tiie 
humanity  and  tender  mercy  of  a  good  king,'  said  the  old  father,  '  whicii 
abolished  the  Inquisition.'  But  immediately  on  his  death,  the  power  of 
the  priests  acquired  the  ascendant,  under  the  queen  dowager,  and  the 
tribunal  was  re-established,  after  a  bloodless  interval  of  five  years.  It 
has  continued  in  operation  ever  since.  It  was  restored  in  1779,  subject 
to  certain  restrictions,  the  chief  of  which  are  the  two  following,  '  That 
a  greater  number  of  witnesses  sliould  be  required  to  convict  a  criminal 
than  were  before  necessary;'  snd  •  That  the  Auto  da  Fe  should  not  be 
held  publicly  as  before;  but  tlia^t  the  sentences  of  the  tribunal  should  be 
executed  privately,  within  the  walls  of  the  Inquisition.' 

"  In  this  particular,  the  constitution  of  the  new  Inquisition  is  more 
reprehensii)le  than  that  of  the  old  one;  for,  as  the  old  Father  expressed 
it,  '  Nunc  sigillum  non  revelat  Inquisitio.'  Formerly,  the  friends  of  those 
unfortunate  persons  who  were  thrown  into  its  prison,  had  the  melancho- 
ly satisfaction  of  seeing  them  once  a  year  walking  in  the  procession  of 
the  Auto  da  Fe;  or  if  they  were  condemned  to  die,  they  witnessed 
their  deatli,  and  mourned  for  the  dead.  But  now,  they  have  no  means 
of  learning  for  years  whether  they  be  dead  or  alive.  The  policy  of  this 
new  code  of  concealment  appears  to  be  this,  to  preserve  the  power  of 
the  Inquisition,  and  at  the  same  time  to  lessen  the  public  odium  of  its 
proceedings,  in  the  presence  of  British  dominion  and  civilization.  I 
asked  the  Father  his  opinion  concerning  the  nature  and  frequency  of 
the  punishments  within  the  walls.    He  said  he  possessed  no  certain 


158  Propagation  of  Christianity 

translated  into  it,  with  the  assistance  of  one  of  the  natives 
the  gospels  of  Matthew  and  Mark,  the  epistle  of  James,  some 
part  of  Genesis,  several  of  the  Psalms,  and  different  portions 
of  the  prophecies,  a  few  copies  of  which  he  circulated  in  man- 
means  of  giving  a  satisfactory  answer,  for  every  thine;  transacted  there 
was  declared  to  be  'sacrum  et  secretuin;'  hut  this  he  knew  to  be  true, 
that  there  were  constantly  captives  in  the  dungeons;  that  some  of  them 
are  liberated  after  a  long  confinement,  but  that  they  never  speak  after- 
wards of  what  passed  within  the  place.  He  added,  that  of  all  the  per- 
sons he  had  known  who  had  been  liberated,  he  never  knew  one  who  tlid 
not  carry  about  him  what  might  be  called  the  '  the  mark  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion;'that  is  to  say,  who  did  not  show  in  the  solemnity  of  his  counte- 
nance, or  in  his  peculiar  demeanor,  or  his  terror  of  tlie  priests,  that  he 
had  been  in  that  dreadful  place. 

'•  The  chief  argument  of  the  Inquisitor  to  prove  the  melioration  of 
rlie  Inquisition  was  the  superior  humanity  of  the  Inquisitors.  I  remark- 
ed tbat  I  did  not  doubt  the  humanity  of  the  existing  officers;  but  \vbat 
availed  bumanityin  an  Inquisitor;  be  must  pronounce  sentence  accord- 
in";  to  the  laws  of  the  tribunal,  which  arc  notorious  enough:  and  a  re- 
lapsed  Heretic  must  be  burned  in  the  flames,  or  confined  for  life  in  a 
dungeon,  whether  the  Inquisitor  be  humane  or  not.  But  if,  said  I,  you 
would  satisfy  my  mind  completely  on  this  subject,  shew  me  the  Inqui- 
sition. He  said  it  was  not  permitted  to  any  pergjou  to  see  the  Inquisition. 
I  observed  that  mine  might  be  considered  as  a  peculiar  case;  that  the 
character  of  the  Inquisition,  and  the  expediency  of  its  longer  continu- 
ance had  been  called  in  question;  that  I  had  myself  written  on  the 
civilization  of  Itulia,  and  might  ])ossibly  publish  something  more  upon 
that  subject,  and  that  it  would  not  be  expected  that  I  should  pass  over 
the  Inquisition  without  notice,  knowing  what  I  did  of  its  proceedings; 
at  the  same  time  I  should  not  wish  to  state  a  single  fact  without  his  au- 
thority, or  at  least  his  admission  of  its  truth.  I  added,  tliat  be  himself 
had  been  pleased  to  communicate  withrae  very  fully  on  the  subject,  and 
that  in  all  our  discussions  we  had  both  been  actuated,  I  hoped,  by  a 
good  purpose.  The  countenance  of  the  Inquisitor  evidently  altered  on 
receiving  this  intimation,  nor  did  it  ever  after  in  my  presence  wholly 
regain  its  wonted  frankness  and  placiditv.  After  some  hesitation,  how- 
ever, he  said  he  would  take  me  with  him  to  the  inquisition  next  day.  I 
was  a  good  deal  surprised  at  this  acquiescence  of  the  Inquisitor,  but 
I  did  not  know  what  was  in  his  mind. 

'•  Next  morning  after  breakfast  my  host  went  to  dress  for  ih^  Holy 
Office,  and  soon  returned  in  his  inquisitorial  robes.  He  said  he  would 
go  half  an  hour  before  the  usual  time  for  the  purpose  of  shewing  me 
the  In([uisition  The  buildings  are  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant 
iron\  the  convent,  and  we  proceeded  thither  in  our  Manjeels,  a  kind  of 
palanquin  common  at  Goa.  It  is  a  sea  cot  suspended  from  a  bamboo, 
which  is  borne  on  the  heads  of  four  men.  Sometimes  a  footman  runs  be- 
fore, having  a  stall'  in  his  hand,  to  which  are  attached  little  bells  or 
rings,  which  he  jingles  as  he  runs,  keeping  time  with  the  motion  of  the 
bearers.     On  our  arrival  at  that  place,  the  Inquisitor  said  to  nie,  as  wc 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  159 

uscript  among  them.  By  these  means  a  considerable  stir 
was  excited  among  the  Hindoos.  Several  of  them  not  only 
acquired  some  knowledge  of  the  gospel,  but  appeared  to  be 
concerned  for  their  souls;  and  there  were  even  two  or  three 

were  ascending  the  steps  of  tlie  outer  stair,  that  lie  lioped  I  sliould  Ije 
satisfied  with  a  transient  view  of  tlie  Inquisition,  and  that  I  would  re- 
tire whenever  he  should  desire  it.  I  took  this  as  a  good  omen,  and  fol- 
lowed my  conductor  with  tolerable  confidence. 

"  lie  led  me  first  to  the  Great  Hall  of  the  Inquisition.  We  were  met 
at  the  door  by  a  number  of  we!'  dressed  persons,  who  I  afterwards  un- 
derstood were  the  familiars  and  attendants  ot  the   Holy  Office.  They 
bowed  very  low  to  the  Inquisitor,  and  looked  with  surprise  at  me.  The 
Great  Hall  is  the  place  in  which  the  prisoners  are  marshalled  for  the 
procession  of  the  Auto  da  Fe.  At  the  procession  described  by  Dellon, 
in  which  he  himself  walked  barefoot,  clothed  with  the  painted  garment, 
there  were  upwards  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  prisoners.  I  traversed  this 
hall  for  some  time,  with  a  slow  step,  reflecting  on  its  former  scenes,  the 
Inquisitor  walking  by  my  side,  in  silence.   I  thought  of  tlie  fate  of  the 
multitude  of  my  fellow  creatures  who  had  passed  through  tliis  place,  con- 
demned by  a  tribunal  of  their  fellow  sinners,  their  bodies  devoted  to  the 
ilames,  and  their  souls  to  perdition.  And  I  could  not  help  saying  to  him 
'  would  not  the  Holy  Church  wish,  in  her  mercy,  to  have  those  souls 
back  again,  that  she  might  allow  them  a  little  further  probation.^'  The 
Inquisitor  answered  nothing,  but  beckoned  me  to  go  with  him  to  a  door 
at  one  end  of  the  hall.   By  this  door  he  conducted  me  to  some  small 
rooms,  and  thence  to  tlie  spacious  apartments  of  the  chief  Inquisitor. 
Having  surveyed   these   he   brought  me  back  again  to  the  Great   Hail; 
and   I  thought  lie  seemed   now  desirous  that  I  should  depart,    '  Now> 
Father,'  said  I,  '  lead  me  to  the  dungeons  below:  I  w  ant  to  see  the  cap- 
tives.' '  No,'  said  be,  '  that  cannot  be.'   I  now  began  to  suspect  that  it 
had  been  in  tlie  mind  of  the  Inquisitor  from  tiie  beginning,  to  sliew  me 
only  a  certain  part  of  the  Inquisition,  in  the  hope  of  satisfying  mv  in- 
quiries in  a  general  way.  I  urged  him  with  earnestness,  Ijut  he  steadily- 
resisted,  and  seemed  to  be  oiVended,  or  rather  agitated,  iiy  my  importu- 
nity. I  intimated  to  him  plainly,  that  the  only  way  to  do  justice  to  hi& 
own  assertions  and   arguments,  regarding  tlie  present  state  of  the  In- 
f|uisition,  was  to  shew  me  the  prisons  and  the  captives    I  should  then 
describe  only  what  I  saw;  hut  now  the  subject  was  left  in  awful  obscuri- 
ty. '  Lead  me  down,'  said  I,  '  to  tlie  inner  building,  and  let  me  pass 
through  the  two  hundred  dungeons,  ten  feet  square,  described  bv  your 
former  captives.    Let  me  count  the  number  of  your  present  captives, 
and  converse  with  them.  I  want  to  see  if  there  be  any  subjects  of  the 
liritish  government,  to  whom  we  owe  protection.  I  want  to  ask  how 
long  they  have  been  here,  how  long  it  is  since  they  beheld  the  light  of 
the  sun,  and   whether  they  ever  expect  to  see  it  again.    Shew  me  the 
Chamber   of  Tortures,  and   declare  what  modes   of  execution,  or    of 
punishment,  are  now  practised  within  the  walls  of  tlie  Inquisition,  in 
lieu  of  the  public  Auto  da  Fe.   If,  after  all  that  lias  passed.  Father,  you 
jesistthis  reasonable  request,  I  shall  be  justified  in  believing  that  Vou 


160  Propagation  of  Christianity 

who  he  hoped  were  sincere  converts  to  Christianity,  though 
they  had  not  yet  been  baptized,  nor  rehnquished  their  cast. 
Mr.  Thomas  laboured  among  them  till  the  beginning  of  1792, 
when  he  left  the  country  and  returned  to  England.^ 

*  Periodical  Accounts,  vol.  i.  p.  7. 14.     Missionary  Magazine,  vol.  ii.  p.  1X7. 

are  afraid  of  exposing  the  real  state  of  the  Inquisition  in  India.'  To 
these  observations  the  Inquisitor  made  no  reply,  but  seemed  impatient 
that  I  should  withdraw.  'Mj  good  Father,'  said  I,  '  I  am  about  to  take 
mj  leave  of  you,  and  thank  you  for  your  hospitable  attentions,  (it  had 
been  before  understood  that  I  should  take  my  final  leave  at  the  door  of 
the  Inquisition,  after  having  seen  the  interior,)  and  I  wish  always  to 
preserve  on  my  mind  a  favourable  sentiment  of  your  kindness  and  can- 
dour. You  cannot,  you  say,  shew  me  the  captives  and  the  dungeons;  be 
pleased  then  merely  to  answer  this  question,  for  I  shall  believe  your 
word:  How  many  prisoners  are  there  now  below,  in  the  cells  of  the 
Inquisition.^'  The  Inquisitor  replied,  <  That  is  a  question  which  I  can 
not  answer.'  On  his  pronouncing  these  words,  I  retired  hastily  toward 
the  door,  and  wished  him  farewell.  We  shook  hands  with  as  much  cor- 
diality as  we  could  at  the  moment  assume;  and  both  of  us,  I  believe, 
were  sorry  that  our  parting  took  place  with  a  clouded  countenance. 

"  From  the  Inquisition  I  went  to  the  place  of  burning  in  the  Camfio 
^anto  Lazaro^  on  the  river  side,  where  the  victims  were  brought  to  the 
stake  at  the  Auto  da  Fe.  It  is  close  to  the  palace,  that  the  vice-roy 
and  his  court  may  witness  the  execution;  for  it  has  ever  been  the  policy 
of  the  Inquisition  to  make  those  spiritual  executions  appear  to  be  the 
executions  of  the  state.  An  old  priest  accompanied  me,  who  pointed 
out  the  place  and  described  the  scene.  As  I  passed  over  this  melan- 
choly plain,  I  thought  on  the  difference  between  the  pure  and  benign 
doctrine,  which  was  first  preached  to  India  in  the  Apostolic  age,  and 
that  bloody  code,  which,  after  a  long  night  of  darkness,  was  announced 
to  it  under  the  same  name!  And  I  pondered  on  the  mysterious  dispen- 
sation, which  permitted  the  ministers  of  the  Inquisition,  with  their  racks 
and  flames,  to  visit  these  lands,  before  the  heralds  of  the  Gospel  of 
Peace.  But  the  most  painful  reflection  was,  that  this  tribunal  should 
vet  exist,  unawed  by  the  vicinity  of  British  humanity  and  dominion. 
\  was  not  satisfied  with  what  I  had  seen  or  said  at  the  Inquisition,  and 
1  determined  to  go  back  again.  The  Inquisitors  were  now  sitting  on  the 
tribunal;  and  I  had  some  excuse  for  returning,  for  I  was  to  receive 
from  the  chief  Inquisitor  a  letter  which  he  said  he  would  give  me,  be- 
iore  Heft  the  place,  for  the  British  Resident  in  Travancore,  being  an 
answer  to  a  letter  from  that  oflicer. 

"  When  I  arrived  at  the  Inquisition,  and  had  ascended  the  outer 
stairs,  the  door  keepers  surveyed  me  doubtinj^ly,  but  suffered  me  to 
pass,  supposing  that  I  had  returned  by  permission  and  appointment  of 
the  Inquisitor.  I  entered  the  Great  Hall,  and  went  up  directly  towards 
the  tribunal  of  the  Inquisition,  described  by  Dellon,  in  which  is  the  lofty 
Crucifix.  I  sat  down  on  a  form,  and  wrote  some  notes;  and  then  desir- 
ed one  of  the  attendants  to  carry  them  in  my  name  to  the  Inquisitor. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  1.61 

Encouraged  by  these  auspicious  circumstances,  the  Bap- 
tist Missionary  society  invited  Mr.  Thomas  to  return  to 
Bengal  under  their  patronage,  and  engaged,  at  the  same  time, 
to  furnish  him  with  a  colleague,  should  one  be  found  endow- 
As  I  walked  up  the  Hall,  I  saw  a  poor  woman  sitting  by  herself,  on  a 
bench  by  the  wall,  apparently  in  a  disconsolate  state  of  mind.  She 
clasped  her  hands  as  I  passed,  and  gave  me  a  look  expressive  of  her 
distress.  This  sight  cliilled  my  spirits.  The  familiars  told  me  she  was 
waiting  there  to  be  called  up  befoie  the  tribunal  of  tlie  Inquisition. 
While  I  was  asking  <]uestious  concerning  her  crime,  the  second  Inqui- 
sitor came  out  in  evident  trepitlation,  and  was  about  to  complain  of  the 
intrusion;  when  I  informed  him  I  had  come  back  for  the  letter  from  the 
chief  Inquisitor.  lie  said  it  should  be  sent  after  me  to  Goa;  and  he  con- 
ducted me  with  a  quick  step  towards  the  door.  As  wc  passed  the  poor 
woman,  I  pointed  to  her,  and  said  with  some  emphasis, '  behold.  Father, 
another  victim  of  the  Holy  Inquisition!'  He  answered  nothing.  When 
we  arrived  at  the  head  of  tiic  great  stair,  he  bowed,  and  I  took  my  last 
leave  of  Josephus  a  Uoloribus,  without  uttering  a  word." 

The  foregoing  particulars  concerning  the  Inquisition  at  Goa  are  de; 
tailed  chiefly  with  this  view:  that  the  English  nation  may  consider, 
whether  there  be  sufficient  ground  for  presenting  a  remonstrance  to  the 
Portuguese  government,  on  the  longer  continuance  of  that  tribunal  in 
India;  it  being  notorious  that  a  great  part  of  the  Romish  Christians  are 
now  under  British  protection.  '•  The  Romans,"  says  Montesquieu, 
"  deserved  well  of  human  nature,  for  making  it  an  article  in  their  treaty 
with  the  Carthaginians,  that  they  should  abstain  from  sacrificing  their 
children  to  the  gods."  It  has  been  lately  observed  by  respectable  wri- 
ters, that  the  English  nation  ought  to  imitate  this  exanjple,  and  endea- 
vour to  induce  her  allies  "  to  abolish  the  human  sacrifices  of  the  Inqui- 
sition:" and  a  censure  is  passe<l  on  our  go\  ernment  for  their  indirterence 
to  this  subject.*  The  indiHterence  to  the  Inquisition  is  attributable,  we 
believe,  to  the  same  cause  which  has  jjroduced  an  indiSerence  to  the 
religious  principles  which  first  organi/,ed  the  Incjuisition.  The  mightv 
despot  who  suppressed  the  Inquisition  in  vSjjain,  was  not  swaved  pro- 
bably l)y  very  powerful  motives  of  humanity;  but  viewed  uith  jealousy 
a  tribunal  which  usurped  an  independent  dominion;  and  he  put  itdown, 
on  the  same  principle  that  he  put  down  the  [)opedom,  that  he  might  re- 
main I'ontilf  and  Grand  Incjuisitor  himself.  But  are  wc  to  look  on  in 
silence,  and  to  expect  that  further  meliorations  in  human  society  are 
to  be  eiVected  by  despotism,  or  by  great  revolutions.'^  "  It","  say  the  same 
authors.  "  while  the  Inquisition  is  destroyed  in  Europe  by  the  power 
of  despotism,  we  could  entertain  the  hope,  and  it  is  not  too  niuch  to 
entertain  such  a  hope,  that  the  power  of  liberty  is  about  to  destroy  it 
in  America;  we  might  even,  amid  the  gloom  that  surrounds  us,  congra- 
tulate our  fellow  creatures  on  one  of  the  most  remarkable  periods  in  the 
histoiy  of  the  progress  of  human  society,  the^;/«/  erasure  of  the  Iiujui- 
silionfrom  the  face  of  the  earth.'^\  It  will  indeed  be  an  important  and 

•  Edinb  i:-g  Review,  No,  xxxii.  p.  449.  f  Ibid.  p.  429, 

VOL.  11.  X 


1C2  Fropugation  of  Christianity 

cd  with  the  qualificationb  necessary  for  so  important  and  ar- 
duous an  undertaking.  Such  a  man  Avas  not  long  wanting. 
The  Rev.  William  Carey  of  Leicester,  who  had  a  principal 
share  in  the  original  proposal  and  institution  of  the  society, 
had,  ever  since  his  entrance  on  the  ministry,  if  not  even 
from  an  earlier  period,  contemplated,  with  deep  commisera- 
tion, the  melancholy  state  of  the  Pagan  world.  His  con- 
versation, his  prayers,  and  sermons,  usually  contained  some* 
thing  relative  to  this  interesting  subject;  and  he  had  lately 
plead  the  cause  of  missions  with  no  small  energy  and  zeal, 
in  a  work  entitled,  "  An  Enquiry  into  the  obligations  of 
Christians  to  use  means  for  the  conversion  of  the  Heathen." 
He  possessed,  at  the  same  time,  an  ardent  thirst  for  geographi- 
cal knov^edge,  and  a  singular  facility  in  the  acquisition  of 
languages;  so  that  for  several  years  his  most  intimate  friends 
had  been  induced  to  think  he  was  designed  by  Providence 
for  some  great  and  important  undertaking.  On  him,  there- 
fore, the  society  now  fixed  their  eyes;  and  no  sooner,  \vas 
he  asked  to  accompany  Mr.  Thomas  to  Bengal,  than  he 
cheerfully  acquiesced  in  the  proposal.* 

'  Period.  Ac.  vol.  i.p.  1,  34.  Brief  N:;rrative  of  the  Bap.  Mis.  in  In.  2d  edit.  p.  5. 

happy  day  to  the  eartli,  when  this  rmal  erasure  shall  take  place;  but  the 
period  of  such  an  event  is  nearer  I  apprehend  in  Europe  and  Anierica. 
than  it  is  in  Asia;  and  its  termination  in  Asia  depends  as  nuich  on  Great 
Britain  as  on  Portugal.  Anil  shall  not  GreatBritain  do  her  part  to  hasten 
this  desirable  tune.^  Do  ue  wait,  as  if  to  see  whether  the  power  of  infidel- 
ity will  abolish  the  other  Inquisitions  of  the  earth.^  Shall  not  we,  in  the 
mean  while,  attempt  to  do  something,  on  Christian  principles,  for  the 
honor  of  God  and  of  humanity?  Do  we  dread  even  to  express  a  senti- 
ment on  the  subject  in  our  legislative  assemblies,  or  to  notice  it  in  oui 
treaties.?  It  is  surely  our  duty  to  declare  our  wLshes,  at  least,  for  the 
abolition  of  these  i;iliuman  tribunals,  (since  we  take  an  active  part  in 
promoting  the  vveli'are  of  other  nations,)  and  to  deliver  our  testimony 
against  them  in  the  pre.sence  of  Europe. 

This  case  is  not  unlike  that  of  the  immolation  of  females;  with  this 
agi^ravation  in  re;,'ard  to  the  latter,  that  the  rite  is  perpetrated  in  our 
own  territories.  Our  humanity  revolts  at  the  occasional  description  of 
the  enormity;  but  the  matter  comes  not  to  our  own  business  and  bosoms, 
and  wo  fail  even  to  insinuate  our  disapprobation  of  the  deed.  It  may  be 
concluded  then,  that  while  we  remain  silent  and  unmoved  spectators  of 
the  flames  of  the  widow's  pile,  there  is  no  Iiope  that  wc  shall  be  justly 
affecteu  by  the  reported  horrors  of  the  Infjuisition. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  163 

In  Jure  1*793,  the  two  missionaries,  toj^ether  with  Mr. 
Car     '  S   embarked  on  board  the   Princess  Maria,  a 

Dlv  '.idiaman,  and  after  a  voyage  of  about  six 

TV.  'led  safe  in  Bengal.     On  their  arrival,  Mr. 

C.  '1  \vith  strangers,  conceived  a  very  favoura- 

ble i<  olaracter  and  m.anners  of  the  natives.     He 

was  dt  ii!.!  -o  see  them  appear  so  gentle,  soft,  and  peace- 
ful in  then-  -u.-spositions,  and  especially  so  inquisitive  and 
attenti\'e  in  hearing  the  gospel;  but  a  little  experience  soon 
corrected  these  early  impressions,  and  convinced  him  they 
were  a  base,  cruel  avaricious,  deceitful  race  of  men.  It  was 
not  long  belbre  they  met  with  Ram  Boshoo,  one  of  the  na- 
tives, of  whose  conversion  they  had  entertained  the  most 
sanguine  hopes;  but  to  their  inexpressible  astonishment  and 
grief,  they  learned,  he  had  fallen  into  idolatry.  After  Mr. 
Thomas's  departure  to  P^nghind,  he  wandered  about  from 
place  to  place,  forsaken  by  his  own  countrymen,  and  neg- 
lected by  Europeans.  In  this  situation,  he  was  seized  with 
a  flux  and  fever,  diseases  which  in  warm  climates  daily  cut 
off  thousands.  "I  had  now,*'  said  he,  "nothing  to  support 
either  myself  or  my  family.  One  of  my  relations  offered  to 
save  me  from  perishing  for  want,  if  I  would  only  bov/  to 
the  idol.  I  knew  that  the  Roman  Catholics  worshipped  im- 
ages. I  thought  they  might  perhaps  be  commanded  to  ho- 
nour them  in  some  part  of  the  Bible  which  I  had  not  yet 
seen.  I  therefore  at  last  complied,  but  I  love  Christianity 
still."  Nothwithstanding  his  fall,  indeed,  the  missionaries 
still  entertained  favourable  hopes  concerning  him:  he  was  a 
sensible,  intelligent,  inquisitive  man,  and  though  timid  in 
his  dispositions,  and  lukewarm  in  his  zeal,  he  manifested  the 
greatest  ingenuousness  and  the  strictest  probity,  qualities  ve- 
ry rare  among  the  Hindoos.  *t 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  i.  p.  45,  79,  138,  64,  67,  7.5. 

t  Hitherto  t!ie  Impes  of  the  missionaries  conceriiing  Kain  Boshoo 
have  heen  misenihly  disappointed.  Alter  residing;  two  or  tiiree  years 
with  Mr.  Caiev.  as  his  iiionsliee  or  teacher,  he  fell  into  adulterv;  and 


164  Propagation  of  CImstiaiiity 

As  it  was  agreed  before  the  missionaries  left  England,  that 
the  society  should  support  tliem  and  their  families  until  they 
were  able  to  provide  for  themselves,  Mr.  Thomas  took  up 
his  residence  in  Calcutta,  under  the  ideaof  maintaining  him- 
self by  his  practice  as  a  surgeon,  while  his  colleague  pro- 
ceeded into  the  country  with  the  view  of  cultivating  some 
land  for  his  support.  Both  of  them,  however,  particularly 
Mr.  Carey,  had  no  small  trials  and  hardships  to  endure  at 
the  commencement  of  their  labours.  Besides  suffering- 
much  distress  from  the  severe  and  tedious  illness  of  his  wife 
and  children,  as  well  as  of  himself,  he  was,  for  the  first  three 
or.  four  months,  reduced  to  the  greatest  straits  of  a  pecuniary 
nature.  Owing  to  a  variety  of  circumstances,  which  he 
could  neither  foresee  nor  prevent,  the  investment  which  was 
taken  out  for  his  immediate  support  was  sunk,  so  that  he  and 
his  family  were  left  in  a  foreign  land,  entirely  destitute  of 
the  means  of  subsistance.  These  painful  occurrences,  togeth- 
er with  a  view  of  the  moral  degradation  of  the  Hindoos,  and 
the  irreligion  of  the  Europeans,  often  preyed  upon  his  spirits, 
and  almost  overwhelmed  him  in  despair.  "  When  I  left 
England,"  says  he,  "  my  hopes  of  the  conversion  of  the 
Heathen  were  very  strong:  but  amidst  so  many  obstacles, 
they  would  utterly  languish  and  die,  were  they  not  upheld 
by  God.  I  seem  cast  out  of  the  Christian  vv^orld,  and  am 
yet  unable  to  speak  with  any  advantage  to  the  Heathen.  I 
am  still  at  a  distance  from  my  colleague,  and  have  no  Chris- 
tian friend  to  stir  me  up,  and  encourage  me  in  the   ways  of 

though  this  crime  is  extremely  common  among  the  Hindoos,  yet  as  he 
had  some  profession  of  Christianity,  Mr.  Carey  judged  it  necessary,  for 
the  honour  'of  religion,  to  dismiss  him  from  his  service.  Afterwards, 
indeed,  he  returned,  and  even  wrote  some  useful  tracts  in  favour  of  the 
gospel,  which  were  printed  by  the  missionaries,  and  extensively  circu- 
lated througii  the  country;  hut  though  convinced  himself*  of  the  truth 
and  excellency  of  Christianity,  his  extreme  tiuiidity  prevented  hiui 
from  relinquishing  cast.  The  others,  of  whose  conversation  Mr.  Tlto- 
mas  entertained  sanguine  hopes,  have  also  disappointed  his  expecta- 
tions, none  of  them  have  ever  made  a  public  profession  of  the  name  of 
Christ,  Ptriod.  Jcconnts,  vol.  i.p.  3'35;  vol.  ii.  p.  6'.),  1.37, '2-15,  286,  379. 


by  the  Baptiat  Missionary  Society.  165 

God.  I  am  sometimes  disheartened,  not  only  by  the  su- 
perstitions of  the  Hindoos,  but  by  the  infidelity  of  Europe- 
ans, who  all  tell  me  the  conversion  of  the  natives  is  impos- 
sible. In  England,  I  should  not  be  discouraged  by  the  re- 
presentations of  unbelievers,  but  here  I  have  no  faithful  bro- 
ther to  sympathise  with  me,  nor  am  I  yet  able  to  make  the 
experiment  by  preaching  the  gospel.  All  my  hope  is  in 
God;  all  my  comfort  arises  from  him.  Though  the  super- 
stitions of  the  natives  were  a  thousand  times  stronger  than 
they  are,  and  the  examples  of  Europeans  a  thousand  times 
worse;  though  I  were  deserted  by  all,  and  persecuted  by  all; 
yet  my  hope,  fixed  on  that  rock,  would  rise  superior  to  ev- 
ery obstruction,  and  triumph  over  every  trial.  I  feel  happy 
in  this,  that  I  am  engaged  in  the  work  of  God;  and  the  more 
I  am  employed  in  it,  the  more  I  feel  it  a  rich  reward.  In- 
deed, I  would  rejoice  in  having  undertaken  it,  even  though  I 
should  perish  in  the  attempt.  What  is  there  in  the  whole 
creation  worth  living  for,  but  the  presence  and  the  service  of 
God  ?  I  feel  a  burning  desire,  tliat  all  the  world  may  know 
this  God  and  serve  him."* 

Early  in  the  year  1794,  Messrs.  Thomas  and  Carey  were 

invited  by  Mr.  U ,  a  gentleman,  who  since  that  period  has 

held  some  of  the  most  important  offices  in  the  India  govern- 
ment, to  superintend  two  indigo  manufactories,  which  he 
had  begun  to  erect  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Malda.  As 
this  proposal  not  only  opened  to  them  the  prospect  of  an  am- 
ple supply  of  their  pecuniary  wants,  but  presented  them  with 
a  large  and  important  field  of  usefulness,  affording  each  of 
them  influence  over  upwards  of  a  thousand  people,  and  fur- 
nishing suitable  employment  for  any  of  them  who  might  lose 
cast  for  the  sake  of  the  gospel,  they  both  excepted  of  it  with- 
out a  moments  hesitation.  Mr.  Carey  accordingly  settled 
soon  after  at  Mudnabatty,  a  place  al^out  thirty  miles  l)eyond 
Malda,  and  Mr.  Thomas ;it  Moypauldiggy,  sixteen  miles  fur- 
ther north,  t 

•  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  i.  p.  89,  301,  122,  1.11,  ir5;  \72,  161,  171.  Btief  Nann 
<ivo,  p   15.  f  Ibul.  vol.  i.  p.  8,),  89. 


16,6  Propagation  of  Christianity 

Being  now  settled  in  these  two  villages,  they  had  each  an 
opportunity  of  addressing  not  only  the  workmen  under  their 
inspection,  but  many  others  of  the  natives,  who  came  from 
different  parts  of  tlie  country  to  hear  them;  and  as  soon  as 
they  were  able,  they  erected  schools  in  their  respective  facto- 
ries; but  the  extreme  ignorance  and  poverty  of  the  natives 
made  them  take  away  their  children  on  every  slight  occasion-, 
and  at  length  it  even  became  necessary  to  pay  the  scholars 
something,  in  order  to  encourage  them  to  attend.  Besides 
statedly  labouring  in  the  two  villages  where  they  resided, 
they  made  frequent  excursions  through  the  neighbouring 
country,  for  the  purpose  of  instructing  the  inhabitants.  "  I 
have  a  district,"  says  Mr.  Carey,  "  of  about  twenty  miles 
square,  where  I  am  continually  going  from  place  to  place  to 
publish  the  gospel,  and  in  this  space  are  about  two  hundred 
villages.  My  manner  of  travelling  is  with  two  small  boats, 
one  of  which  serves  me  to  lodge  in,  the  other  for  cooking  my 
victuals.  All  my  furniture,  as  well  as  my  food,  I  carry  with 
me  from  place  to  place,  namely,  a  chair,  a  table,  a  bed,  and 
a  lamp.  I  walk  from  village  to  village,  but  repair  to  my  boat 
for  lodging  and  victuals.  There  are  several  rivers  in  this 
quarter  of  the  country,  which  renders  it  very  convenient 
for  travelling.""* 

In  November  1795,  they  iniited  in  forming  a  Christian 
church  at  Mudnabatty;  but,  at  first,  it  consisted  only  of  four 
members,  namely,  the  missionaries  themselves,  and  two 
Europeans  of  the  name  of  Long  and  Powel,  whom  they  had 
baptized.!  Hitherto  no  success  had  crowned  their  labours 
among  the  Hindoos;  a  circumstance  which  could  not  fail  to 
discourage  their  hearts,  and  to  damp  their  exertions.  The 
difficulties  attending  the  conversion  of  the  natives,  were 
greater  perhaps,  than  either  they  or  their  friends  had  ever 
calculated;  and  though  no  doubt  could  remain  of  the  power 
of  God  to  subdue  their  ignorance  and  obduracy;  yet  for  the 
present,  it  pleased  him  to  put  the  faith  and  patience  of  the 

•  Rrlef  Nan-ative,  p.  20.      Period.  Accounts,  vol.  i.  p.  124,  233,  375. 
•  Veriod.  Accounts,  vol.  i.  p.  225. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  167 

missionaries  to  a  severe  trial.  It  may  not  be  improper  to 
take  here  a  slight  view  of  some  of  the  political  and  moral  ob- 
structions which  impede  the  progress  of  Christianity  in  In- 
dia, exclusive  of  those  natural  and  more  powerful  obstacles 
which  exist  in  every  country  and  in  every  heart. 

The  first  obstruction  which  naturally  strikes  the  most  su- 
perficial observer,  is  the  division  of  the  people  into  casts. 
The  Hindoos,  as  is  well  known,  were  originally  divided 
into  four  casts  or  tribes:  the  Brahmin,  the  Ketra,  the  Bice, 
and  the  Sooder;  each  of  which  is  again  subdivided  into  the 
number  of  different  branches.  None  of  these  can  ever  quit 
his  own  cast,  or  be  admitted  into  another.  The  station  of 
every  individual  is  unalterably  fixed;  his  destiny  is  irrevo- 
cable. The  members  of  each  tribe  must  adhere  invariabl}'^ 
to  the  profession  of  their  ancestors,  and  continue  from  gen- 
eration to  generation  to  pursue  one  uniform  walk  of  life.  In 
consequence  of  this  unnatural  distinction  of  casts,  all  motives 
to  exertion,  inquiry  or  improvement,  arc  completely  extin- 
guished among  the  Hindoos;  for  the  most  honourable  ac- 
tions, the  most  beneficial  discoveries,  the  most  virtuous  con- 
duct, secure  no  respect  or  advantage  to  a  person  of  inferior 
cast;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  those  of  high  cast  suffer  no  loss 
in  their  reputation,  by  being  indolent,  ignorant,  or  vicious. 
Hence  they  display  a  stupid  contentment  to  remain  as  they 
are,  a  total  want  of  curiosity,  and  not  a  thought  about  the 
enlargement  of  their  understandings,  or  the  amelioration  of 
their  heart.  Careless  and  indifferent,  they  plod  in  the  path 
of  their  ancestors;  and  even  truths  in  philosophy,  geography, 
astronomy,  or  any  other  science,  if  out  of  the  beaten  track, 
of  antiquity  make  no  more  impression  on  their  minds  than 
the  sublimer  principles  of  religion.  They  consider  the  dif- 
ferent casts  to  be  distinct  species  of  animals;  and  hence  con- 
conclude,  that  it  is  as  possible  for  them  to  become  some  other 
kind  of  animal  as  to  become  Christians;  and  that  the  differ- 
ent forms  of  worship  and  habits  of  life  observed  by  particu- 
lar casts,  are  no  less  necessary  to  them  than  eating  grass  is 


168  J^ropagatton  of  Christianity 

to  an  ox,  or  flesh  to  a  tyger.  The  most  trifling  incidents,  how^ 
ever,  occasion  the  loss  of  cast,  as  eating,  drinking,or  smok- 
ing with  a  person  of  a  different  tribe  or  nation.  They  may,  in- 
deed, eat  the  food  of  another  cast,  if  no  water  has  touched  it. 
Thus  a  Brahmin  can  purchase  rice  of  a  Soder,  or  even  of  a 
Mussulman,  and  eat  it;  but  none  except  a  Brahmin  can  cook 
his  food.  A  Hindoo  can  also  smoke  the  same  tobacco  which 
a  Mussulman  has  just  been  using;  but  he  must  take  off"  part 
of  the  Hooka  which  contains  the  tobacco,  and  must  not 
smoke  through  the  same  water.  The  loss  of  cast  is,  indeed, 
attended  with  the  most  dreadful  consequences.  No  one 
will  eat,  drink,  or  smoke  with  such  a  person;  no  one  will  mar- 
ry into  his  family;  his  wife,  his  children,  his  friends  disown 
him;  and  are  often  material  sufferers  by  what  he  has  done, 
sometimes  even  losing  cast  themselves  in  consequence  of  it; 
and  thus  he  ruins  them  as  well  as  himself.  Nor  can  cast, 
if  once  completely  lost,  ever  be  recovered.  Mr.  Carey 
knew  a  man  whose  cast  was  gone,  through  a  woman  in  the 
family  being  obliged  to  live  with  a  Mussulman;  and  though 
he  offered  a  lack  of  rupees,  or  about  ten  thousand  pounds 
sterling,  to  have  it  restored,  it  was  of  no  avail.  Besides, 
such  is  the  influence  of  example,  that  the  Mussulmans  are  as 
attentive  to  their  imaginary  cast  as  the  Hindoos  are  to  theirs; 
and  thus  the  same  obstacle  operates  with  similar  force  upon 
them.* 

Besides  this  unnatural  division  of  casts,  the  system  of  su- 
perstition which  the  Hindoos  have  imbibed  iVom  their  in- 
fancy, hath  extinguished  the  light  of  nature  in  their  breasts, 
eradicated  the  principles  of  conscience,  and  completely  de- 
bauched their  hearts.  They  are  fond  of  cherishing  the  idea, 
that  man  is  merely  a  machine,  and,  of  course,  not  an  account- 
able creature. t  One  day,  as  Mr.  Carey  was  discoursing  on  the 
nature  and  evil  of  sin,  one  of  the  principle  people  who  heard 
lam  declared  he  had  never  committed  a  sin  in  his  life.  "  We 

*  Pi-riod.  Accounts,  vol.  i.  p.  481, 137,  235. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  1G9 

uan  do  no  wrong,"  said  some  others  who  joined  in  the  con- 
versation, "  we  are  only  instruments;  our  will  is  God  in  us." 
Mr.  Carey  then  talked  ot"  particular  sins,  saying,  "  If  you 
commit  theft,  lewdness,  or  murder,  are  they  not  your  sins  ?" 
"  O,  no,"  they  replied,  "they  are  not  our  sins;  it  is  God 
who  does  all."  He  used  many  arguments  to  convince  them 
of  the  absurdity  and  wickedness  of  such  ideas;  but  all  was 
in  vain,  until  at  last  he  said,  "  Well,  if  you  can  do  no  sin, 
come  eat  some  of  my  rice  with  me  to  day.  It  will  be  God's 
act,  not  yours."  With  this  they  were  struck  dumb,  and 
had  not  a  word  to  reply.  Probably  they  would  sooner  have 
murdered  a  man,  or  been  hanged  themselves,  than  eaten,  or 
even  touched,  a  particle  of  victuals  dressed  by  a  European. 
If  a  Hindoo  be  detected  in  theft,  or  charged  with  murder,  he 
generally  answers,  that  his  Kopal^  or  forehead,  is  bad.  By 
this  they  mean,  that  th^  were  destined  by  God  to  commit 
such  crimes;  for  it  is  a  common  opinion  among  them,  that 
the  fate  of  every  man  is  written  in  his  forehead;  and  includ- 
ing in  that  their  moral  actions,  as  well  as  their  external  cir- 
cumstances, they  conclude,  that  the  whole  of  their  conduct 
in  life  is  chargeable  on  God,  and  not  on  themselves-  This 
doctrine  prevails  amongst  them  almost  universally;  and  to 
clear  themselves  of  the  inconsistency  of  charging  sin  on  a 
holy  God,  they  maintain,  that  no  act  of  the  Deity's  can  be 
criminal,  though  ever  so  great  an  enormity  if  committed  by 
a  man.  The  idea  of  fatality  is  not  confined  to  the  present 
state  of  existence,  but  extends  to  the  life  to  come,  and  pro- 
duces the  utmost  indifference  with  regard  to  futurity.  Ask 
a  labourer,  whether  or  not  he  shall  go  to  heaven  when  he 
dies?  "What  can  I  do?"  he  will  reply,  "if  God  hath 
written  it  in  my  fate,  I  shall  go  to  heaven;  if  not,  I  shall  go 
to  hell.  "  But  do  you  hope  to  go  to  heaven  ?  You  are 
sinful:  how  shall  your  sins  be  forgiven?"  "  I  am  a  poor 
man,"  he  will  answer,  "  what  can  I  know?  My  gooroo  knows 
that;  he  will  obtain  pardon  for  me."  Perhaps,  however,  this 
gooroo,  or  teacher,  is  a  hundred  miles  distant:  .some  Brah- 

VOL.    II.  V' 


170  Propagation  of  Cliristiamty 

min,  whom  the  poor  dekided  creature  has  not  seen  ten  times 
in  his  Hfe.  Besides,  the  doctrine  of  transmigration  is  a  new 
source  of  crimes,  and  renders  them  still  farther  proof  against 
the  convictions  of  conscience,  and  indifferent  to  that  salvation 
which  the  gospel  reveals.  The  present  life  is  regarded  by 
them  not  as  a  state  of  probation,  but  of  punishment  for  the 
sins  of  some  pre  existent  state;  and  hence,  however  infamous 
their  conduct  may  be,  they  assert  it  cannot  be  criminal,  be- 
cause they  are  now  expiating  former  transgressions.  Even 
when  they  are  driven  from  all  these  refuges,  and  are  no  lon- 
ger able  to  still  the  small  voice  of  conscience,  the  facility 
with  which  they  can  be  cleansed  from  sin,  proves  an  easy 
balm  for  the  wound,  and  forms  a  powerful  barrier  to  the  pro- 
gress of  the  gospel  among  them;  for  what  regard  can  they 
be  expected  to  pay  to  the  atonement  of  Christ,  or  indeed, 
what  restraint  can  they  feel  on  thei^Bbnduct,  who  have  only  to 
wash  in  the  sacred  stream  of  the  Ganges,  and  instantly  they 
are  puriried  from  all  moral  pollution?  One  day  a  Hindoo  told 
Mr.  Carey,  that  let  him  sin  as  much  as  he  would,  the  river 
Ganges  would  wash  it  all  away.  In  these  opinions  of  the 
Hindoos,  it  is  obvious,  there  are  the  grossest  contradictions; 
but  they  see  not  the  inconsistency,  and  even  absurdity  itself 
failed  to  shock  them.* 

The  servility,  the  avarice,  and  the  duplicity  of  the  Hin- 
doos, are  a  further  bar  to  the  propagation  of  Christianity 
among  them.  Of  the  character  of  the  natives  in  these  res- 
pects, it  is  scarcely  possible  for  a  European  to  form  a  pro- 
per idea,  they  can  carry  on  a  fraud  to  such  an  inconceivable 
extent.  To  the  missionaries,  this  was  a  very  perplexing 
circumstance,  as  they  found  it  extremely  difficult  to  form  a 
just  estimate  of  the  professions  of  such  as  became  enquirers 
about  the  gospel.  Among  the  Hindoos,  the  hope  of  beings 
employed  in  some  work,  or  recommended  to  some  other 
person,  or  even  of  getting  only  a  few  cowries,  is  sufficient  to 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  i.  p.  449,  4S2;  vol.  ii.  p.  7o,  50 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  171 

induce  a  man  in  easy  circumstances  to  carry  on  a  deception 
of  this  kind  for  a  year  or  two  together,  with  the  utmost  ser- 
viHty  imaginable.* 

It  is  not,  however,  unworthy  of  observation,  that  the  cast 
which  we  have  stated  as  so  considerable  a  bar  to  the  pro- 
gress of  Christianity  in  India,  may  prove  highly  beneficial 
as  a  corrective  of  this  evil.  The  hindoos  being  distinguished 
by  the  deceitfulness  of  their  character,  the  renunciation  of 
cast  will  form  a  test  of  sincerity,  peculiarly  adapted  to  such 
a  people.  Thus  the  oil  of  the  serpent  will  prove  an  anti- 
dote to  its  poison.  Were  it  not  for  the  cast,  the  dread  of 
imposition  would  alloy  the  pleasure  of  success,  and  mar  the 
delight  of  Christian  communion;  but  in  consequence  of  this, 
the  danger  of  imposition  will  not  be  greater  in  India  than  in 
other  countries.  Some,  no  doubt,  will  prove  imposters  not- 
withstanding this,  for  such  are  found  in  all  ages  and  in  all 
places;  but  it  is  probable  the  number  will  not  be  great,  since 
it  is  scarcely  conceivable  that  persons  should  sacrifice  nearly 
all  their  worldly  prospects  merely  from  worldly  motives. 
If,  under  such  circumstances,  men  should  prove  deceivers, 
it  is  likely  they  must  first  have  deceived  themselves. f 

Notwithstanding  the  numerous  and  powerful  obstructions 
which  impeded  the  progress  of  Christianity  among  the  Hin- 
doos, the  missionaries  by  no  means  despaired  of  ultimate 
success;  and  though  many  circumstances  contributed  to  dis- 
courage them,  others  also  occurred  to  cheer  their  hearts.  In 
September  1796,  they  had  the  pleasure  of  Avelcoming  Mr. 
John  Fountain  as  an  assistant  in  their  labours;  and  just  about 
the  period  of  his  arrival,  their  prospects  appeared  to  brighten, 
and  for  a  considerable  time  were  fairer  than  ever.  A  knowl- 
edge of  the  gospel  was  now  diifuscd,  not  only  in  the  places 
of  their  residence,  but  over  the  whole  of  the  neighbouring 
country;  numbers  of  the  youth  had  attended  the  schools,  and 
in  their  tender  years  received  the  rudiments  of  a  Christian 

•  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  i.  p.  483.  j  Iblcl.  vol.  :I.  p.  156. 


172  Propagation  of  Christianity 

education;  and  tliere  were  even  some  of  the  natives,  parti- 
cularly several  Mahomedans,  who  appeared  to  be  impressed 
with  a  sense  of  religion,  and  seriously  concerned  for  their 
souls.  The  missionaries  flattered  themselves  widi  the  hope 
of  their  conversion,  and  expected  that  some  of  them  would 
soon  be  baptized.  In  this,  however,  they  were  disappointed. 
As  these,  indeed,  fell  away,  others  came  in  their  place;  but 
neither  had  they  the  fortitude  to  abandon  the  superstition  of 
their  country,  and  to  make  a  public  profession  of  Christian- 
ity So  many  disappointments  must,  no  doubt,  have  dis- 
couraged the  missionaries;  yet  while  the  parties  continued 
promising,  they  contributed  to  strengthen  their  hands,  and 
to  animate  them  in  their  labours.* 

In  March  1797,  Messrs.  Thomas  and  Carey  made  an  ex- 
cursion to  the  neighbouring  kingdom  of  Bootan,  in  the  hope 
of  preparing  the  way  for  the  introduction  of  Christianity  into 
it.     On  reaching  the  borders  of  that  country,  they  waited 
on  an  officer  called  the  Jinkof,  and  were  received  by  him  in 
a  most  friendly  manner.     He  immediately  sent  intelligence 
of  their  arrival  to  the   Soobah,  a  kind  of  viceroy  below  the 
hills,  who  resided  at  Botehaut,  and  who  gave  orders  that  they 
should  proceed  in  great  state  to  that  town   without  delay. 
The  procession  was  singular  and  interesting.  They  set  for- 
ward on  the  journey,  preceded  by  a  Bengalee  band  of  music, 
and  attended  by  six  horsemen  and  sei'vants,  besides  a  num- 
ber of  spectators,   and  people  carrying  their  luggage,  tents, 
&c.      On  one  liorse  rode  the  Jinkof,   led  by  two  men,   not- 
withstanding which  he  was  sometimes  first,  sometimes  last, 
his  annimal  being  very  ungovernable.  Every  mile  or  two  he 
stopped  to  drink  some  ardent  spirits,  a  practice  to  which  the 
inhabitants  of  Bootan   are  greatly  addicted,  though  not  to 
such  excess  as  to  intoxicate  themselves.     On  another  horse 
rode  a  Hindoo,  who  resembled  him  in  every  thing  except  in 
the  custom  of  drinking.      As  they  approached  the  town,  a 

""  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  i.  305,  .318,   326,  331,  348,  419,  420, 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  173 

number  of  females  met  them,  and  alter  making  their  salam^ 
they  ran  before  the  horses;  and  at  length,  all  the  inhabitants, 
of  the  place,  amounting  to  two  or  three  thousand,  joined  the 
procession.* 

In  this  manner,  they  proceeded  to  the  house  of  the  Soobah, 
who  received  them  with  great  politeness,  and  made  them 
presents  of  a  white  silk  scarf,  in  the  naii te  of  the  Grand  La- 
ma; of  a  red  one  in  his  own  name,  and  of  another  of  the 
same  description  in  the  name  of  a  friend.  After  receiving 
these  presents,  they  ascended  by  a  ladder  into  his  house, 
which  was  constructed  of  bamboos,  and  mats,  with  saul-tree 
pillars.  In  the  upper  story  were  four  rooms,  completely  cov- 
ered with  mats.  At  the  further  end  of  the  principal  apart- 
ment, was  the  seat  of  the  Soobah,  elevated  about  two  feet 
above  the  floor,  covered  with  red  cloth,  and  hung  round 
with  thin  guaze  curtains.  Here  they  were  placed  near  the 
Soobah.  On  two  sides  of  the  same  room,  were  seats  for  the 
servants,  raised  about  six  inches  from  the  floor,  and  covered 
with  sackcloth.  A  window,  about  four  feet  deep,  consisting 
of  lattice- work,  ran  along  the  sides,  on  which  the  servants 
sat;  and  a  curtain  of  white  cotton  cloth  was  fixed  above  it. 
On  this  curtain  hung  shields  and  helmets,  and  under  it 
matchlocks,  bows  and  arrows.  The  under  part  of  the  house 
served  for  a  stable,  &C.f 

The  politeness  and  generosity  of  the  Soobah  to  the  mis- 
sionaries, far  exceeded  their  most  sanguine  expectations,  and 
appeared  indeed  truly  astonishing.  He  insisted  on  supply- 
ing all  their  pe^^ple  with  whatever  they  needed;  and  if  they 
themselves  did  but  cast  their  eyes  on  any  object  in  the  room, 
he  immediately  presented  them  with  an  article  of  the  same 
description.  He  even  interpreted  their  looks  before  they 
were  aware;  and  in  this  manner  gave  each  of  them  that  night, 
a  sword,  a  shield,  and  a  helmet,  together  with  a  cup  made 
of  a  beautiful  light  kind  of  wood;  and  as  he  perceived  they 
admired  the  substance  of  which  it  was  formed,  he  furnished 

*  Perio.l.  Accovmts,  vol.  i.  p.  362,  1 1'^''^*  ^'ol«  i-  P-  364. 


174  Propagation  of  Christianity 

them  with  a  large  log  of  it.  It  resembled  fir,  was  full  of  re- 
sin or  turpentine,  and  burned  like  a  candle  when  cut  into 
slices,  a  purpose  for  which  it  is  employed  by  the  inhabitants 
of  Bootan.* 

The  Soobah  even  determined  to  give  the  people  a  public 
testimony  of  his  respect  and  friendship  for  them,  and  fixed 
on  the  next  day  for  the  ceremony  to  take  place,  in  their  tent 
in  the  market-place.  Being  instructed  in  the  necessary 
etiquette,  they  informed  him,  that  as  they  had  come  only  a 
short  journey  with  the  view  of  seeing  the  country,  they  were 
not  provided  with  English  cloths,  or  other  articles  for  pre- 
sents. This  objection  being  overruled,  he  waited  on  them 
ill  their  tent  at  the  appointed  hour,  followed  by  all  hi-s  ser- 
vants, both  Booteas  and  Hindoos.  Having  taken  their  seats, 
they  mutually  exchanged  five  rupees  and  five  pieces  of  be- 
tel, in  the  presence  of  the  whole  town;  and  after  chewing  the 
betel,  they  embraced  each  other  three  times, 'in  the  eastern 
manner,  and  then  shook  hands  in  the  English  fashion.  He 
then  made  each  of  them  a  present  of  a  piece  of  rich  dehang^ 
wrought  with  gold,  a  Bootan  blanket,  and  the  tail  of  an  ani- 
mal called  the  Choar  Coxv.\ 

The  ceremony  being  ended,  the  missionaries  were  con- 
ducted to  the  Soobah's  house,  where  they  found  another 
ofiicer,  who  they  believe  was  the  Vakeel,  or  attorney  of  the 
court  below  the  hills.  He  appeared,  however,  in  every  res- 
pect the  reverse  of  their  friendly  host.  He  sat  on  his  seat 
like  a  statue,  not  deigning  to  rise  when  they  entered,  though 
ihe  Soobah,  a  far  greater  man,  uniformly^  shewed  them  this 
mark  of  respect.  When  they  sat  down,  he  began  a  long 
discourse  with  the  people  who  were  present  in  the  Bootan 
language;  and  as  the}^  did  not  understand  it,  they  also  talk- 
ed to  each  other  in  English.  All  the  time,  a  servant,  by  his 
orders,  held  a  lighted  torch  in  their  faces,  that  he  might  stare 
at  them.  He  then  asked  how  many  servants  they  kept,  and 
vrhether  they  had  a  tent.     As  it  was  obvious  he  made  these 

Teilod  Accounts,  vol.  i.  p.  365.  j  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  365- 


hy  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  175 

enquiries  merely  to  discover  whether  they  were  great  men, 
the  answers  they  returned  were  very  brief,  and  so  afforded 
him  but  little  satisfaction.  After  exchanging  a  few  angry 
words  with  the  Soobah,  he  abruptly  took  his  departure.  En- 
raged at  his  conduct,  the  viceroy  tore  off  his  upper  garment, 
seized  a  dagger,  and  threatened  to  go  after  him  and  kill  him. 
Happily,  however,  he  was  appeased  by  the  missionaries, 
otherwise,  perhaps,  he  might  have  executed  his  bloody  pur- 
pose.* 

Having  declined  going  up  the  hills,  as  they  had  not  time 
to  wait  for  the  orders  which  might  have  been  necessary  from 
the  seat  of  government,  they  took  their  departure  next  morn- 
ing, and  were  dismissed  by  the  Soobah  with  every  token  of 
respect  which  he  could  heap  upon  them.  Indeed,  the  whole 
of  his  conduct  toward  them,  from  first  to  last,  was  most  gen- 
erous, polite,  and  friendly.  In  the  course  of  this  excursion, 
they  preached  the  gospel  in  many  places  where  the  name  of 
Christ  was  never  heard  before.  When  they  spoke  about 
religion,  the  appellation  of  Lama  was  given  to  them,  a  term 
which  seems  to  signify  a  teacher,  and  is  applied  to  the  chief 
object  of  worship  in  Bootan,  who  is  emphatically  styled  the 
Grand  Laina,^ 

The  missionaries  having  often  written  for  new  assistants, 
particularly  for  one  who  understood  the  art  of  printing,  the 
society  were  at  length  happy  in  being  able  to  comply  with 
their  request.  In  May  1799,  Mr.  William  Ward,  who  had 
been  bred  a  printer,  Mr.  Joshua  Marshman,  Mr.  Daniel 
Brundson,  and  Mr.  William  Grant,  together  with  their  fami- 
lies, sailed  for  India  in  an  American  vessel,  commanded  b- 
captain  Wickes,  who,  being  a  pious  mnn,  treated  them  with 
the  care  and  affection  of  a  father,  and  has  ever  since  been  a 
most  kind  and  valuable  friend  to  the  mission.  After  a  short 
and  agreeable  voyage,  they  landed  safe  in  Bengal;  but  scarcer 
ly  had  they  arrived,  when  Mr.  Grant  was  attacked  by  a  fever, 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol,  i,  p.  ,'^66.  f  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  362,  365,  366 


176  Propagation  of  Christianity 

and  died  after  a  few  days  illness,  leaving  behind  him  a  widow 
and  two  children,  as  well  as  his  fellow  missionaries,  to  lament 
his  loss. *f 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  i.  p.  520;  vol.  ii.  p.  31. 

t  The  early  history  of  Mr.  Grant  is  rather  singular.  When  about  six- 
teen years  of  age,  he  formed  an  intimacy  with  a  young  man  who  was  a 
Deist,  and  who  infused  into  his  mind  tiie  principles  of  infidelity.  With 
him  he  read  Voltaire's  Philosophical  Dictionary,  and  thej  otten  united 
in  ridiculing  the  followers  of  Christ  as  fanatics  and  enthusiasts,  con- 
gratulating themselves  as  persons  liberated  from  the  shackles  of  igno- 
rance, and  the  prejudices  of  the  vulgar.  Under  the  influence  of  these 
opinions,  he  made  every  effort  in  his  power  to  bring  the  Bible  into  con- 
tempt among  his  friends  and  acquaintance. 

After  pursuing  this  course  for  about  two  years,  he  was  partially  re- 
claimed from  infidelity,  by  reading  Dr  Priestley's  History  of  the  Cor- 
ruptions of  Christianity;  but  his  heart  being  the  same,  he  soon  relapsed 
into  his  former  principles,  and  even  proceeded  so  far  as  to  reject  the 
doctrine  of  a  future  state,  and  to  call  into  question  the  existence  of  a 
Deity.  Now  he  uttered  the  most  horrid  blasphemies  against  religion, 
and  endeavoured  to  bring  all  he  knew  into  the  same  wretched  senti- 
ments. Now  there  was  no  iniquity  which  he  could  not  commit  with- 
out remorse:  and  though  the  lengths  he  went  in  sin  were  great,  yet  they 
would  have  been  still  greater,  had  not  God  laid  him  under  restraint  by 
the  ill  state  of  health  under  which  he  then  laboured. 

He  frequently,  indeed,  felt  the  inconsistencies  which  attached  to  the 
system  of  atheism.  By  examining  more  closely  the  arguments  by 
Avhich  it  was  supported,  he  at  length  perceived  its  fallacy;  and  by  far- 
ther attention  to  natural  philosophy  and  anatomy,  he  discovered  such 
evident  traces  of  an  intelligent  first  cause  in  the  works  of  creation,  par- 
ticularly in  the  structure  of  the  human  body,  as  convinced  him  of  the 
existence  of  a  Deity. 

Soon  after,  he  accidentally  met  with  Mr.  Marshman,  in  a  Bookseller's 
shop  in  Bristol,  and  formed  some  acquaintance  with  him.  It  was  not 
long,  however,  before  he  began  to  sneer  at  the  absurdities  of  Calvinism, 
as  he  was  pleased  to  call  them,  particularly  the  doctrine  of  atonement; 
and  though  he  affected  to  pass  for  a  Sociaian,  and  not  entirely  to  reject 
the  scriptures,  it  was  obvious  he  had  no  great  reverence  for  their  au- 
thority. By  means,  however,  of  Mr.  Marshman's  conversation  with 
him,  he  was  brought  to  serious  reflection  on  his  ways,  w-as  persuaded  to 
attend  on  public  \\orship,  which  lie  had  hitheto  neglected,  at  it  is  hoped 
became  a  partaker  of  that  grace  which  he  had  once  blasphemed.  Being 
now  impressed  with  deep  concern  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  salva- 
tion of  immortal  souls,  especially  of  tlie  poor  Heathen,  he  offered  to 
u-o  as  a  missionary  to  Bengal.  But  though  he  arrived  in  that  country, 
he  was  not  permitted  to  labour  among  the  Hindoos;  yet  his  life,  even  in 
relation  to  this  object,  was  by  no  means  in  vain,  for  it  was  thieliy  through 
his  instrumentality  that  Mn  Marshman,  who  has  proved  so  able  and  use- 
ful a  missionary,  was  ever  induced  to  think  of  going  among  the  Heathen. 
Period,  ylucoiuits,  vol,  i.  p.  500. 


hy  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  177 

Upon  their  arrival,   the  new   missionaries  proceeded  to 
Seranipore,  a  Danish  settlement  on  the  river  Hoogly,  about 
thirteen   miles  above  Calcutta;  and  as  captain  Wickes  was 
informed  that  his  ship  would  not  be  entered  unless  they  either 
made  their  appearance  at  the  police  office  of  Calcutta,  or 
agreed  to  continue  at  Serampore,  they  preferred  remaining  in 
their  present  situation,  at  least  until  they  had  an  opportunity 
of  con-julting  with  Mr.  Carey.   Being  informed  of  these  cir- 
cumstances, Mr.  Carey  employed  all  the  interest  in  his  power 
to  obtain  permission  for  them  to  settle  in  the  British  territo- 
ries in  the  neighbourhood  of  Malda,  but  his  utmost  efforts 
were  of  no  avail.  This  plan  being  frustrated,  il  became  a  ques- 
tion whether  the  missionaries  in  that  quarter  should  come  and 
join  those  at  Serampore,  or  whether  they  should  not  rather 
labour  separately.   With  regard  to  Mudnabatty,  the  factory 
at   that  place,    owing  to  the   failure  of  the  crops,  had  lately 
been  relinquished,  and  Mr.  Carey,  with  the  view  of  provid- 
ing for  the  mission,  had  taken  a  small  one  at  Kidderpore,  a 
place  about  twelve  miles  distant,  where  he  intended  to  carry 
on  a  little  business,  and  to  erect  some  dwellings  for  the  new 
missionaries.    To  leave  that  quarter  of  the  country  would  be 
attended  with  the  loss  of  500/.  on  this  undertaking,  with  the 
sacrifice,  in  a  great  measure,  of  all  their  past  labours,  parti- 
cularly of  some  promising  appearances  in  the  neighbouring- 
city  of  Dinagepore.    On  the  other  hand,  at  Serampore,  they 
would  enjoy  the  protection  of  the  Danish  government,  might 
prosecute  the  grand  ends  of  the  mission,  especially  the  print- 
ing of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  with  greater  facility  than  in  their 
present  situation,  and  would  have  a  more  populous  neighbor- 
hood as  the  scene  of  their  labours.  Weighing  these  several 
circumstances,  Mr.    Carey  acquiesced  in  the  wishes  v)f  his 
brethren,  and  agreed  to  come  to  Serampore.  Nothing,  how- 
ever, but  dire  necessity,  dictated  tlvs  measure;  it  was  so  far 
from  being  the  result  of  human  wisdom,  that  every   thing 
possible  was  done  to  avoid  it;  yet  this  step,  taken  with  such 

VOL,  n  % 


178  Propagation  of  Christianity 

extreme  reluctance,  has  been  a  principal  mean  of  the  estab- 
lishment and  success  of  the  mission.* 

In  January  1800,  Mr.  Carey  removed  to  Serampore,  and 
on  the  day  after  his  arrival,  he  was  introduced  to  the  Danish 
governor,  who  received  him  in  a  very  friendly  manner.  The 
number  of  missionaries  being  now  so  much  increased,  one 
of  the  first  objects  to  which  they  directed  their  attention, 
was  to  settle  a  plan  of  domestic  government;  and  it  was 
agreed,  among  other  articles,  that  they  should  superintend 
the  affairs  of  the  family  by  turns,  for  a  month:  that  Saturday 
evening  should  be  devoted  to  the  adjusting  of  any  differences 
which  might  arise  among  them  in  the  course  of  the  week; 
and  that  no  one  should  engage  in  any  employment  of  a  pri- 
vate nature;  but  that  whatever  pecuniary  profits  any  of  them 
might  realize,  should  be  appropriated  to  the  general  purposes 
of  the  mission!  ji  regulation  from  which  the  most  important 
consequences  have  x'esulted,  and  which,  in  fact,  has  proved  a 
principal  mean  of  the  support  and  extension  of  their  la- 
bours.f 

As  the  expense  of  lodgings  was  extremely  heavy,  they 
immediately  bought  a  large  house  in  the  middle  of  the  town, 
for  6000  rupees,  the  rent  of  which,  in  four  years,  would  have 
amounted  to  no  less  than  the  purchase  money.  Afterwards, 
on  account  of  the  large  and  increasing  concerns  of  the  mis- 
sion, they  found  it  necessary  to  buy  the  adjacent  house, 
together  with  the  garden  and  some  land,  consisting  of  up- 
wards of  four  acres,  for  which  they  paid  10,340  rupees;  and 
being  still  in  want  of  room,  they  have  since  that  time  pur- 
chased some  extensive  premises  to  the  eastward,  for  the  sura 
of  14,200  rupees,  making  in  all  near  4000/.  sterling. | 

The  mission  had  not  been  long  settled  at  Serampore,  when 
Mr.  Fountain  was  seized  with  a  violent  dysentery,  which  at 
length  put  a  period  to  his  life,   just  as  he  had  acquired  the 

*  Periodiciil  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  39,  46;  vol.  iil.  Preface.  Brief  Navrative,  p.  25. 
t  Periadical  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  4i. 
t  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  44,  130. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  179 

language,  and  was  beginning  to  be  usefuL  He  recovered, 
indeed,  in  a  sonsiderable  degree,  from  the  first  attack,  and 
went  up  the  country  to  nicuuitacture  indigo,  at  the  particular 

requestor  their  friend  Mr.  U .     Soon  after  his  arrival, 

however,  he  relapsed  into  his  old  complaint,  combined  with 
a  variety  of  other  disorders,  which  preyed  upon  his  enfeebled 
constitution,  and  baffled  all  the  powers  of  medicine,  as  well 
as  the  kindness  of  his  friends.  But  though  severely  afflicted 
in  his  body,  he  was  so  comfortable  in  his  mind,  that  the 
chamber  where  he  lay  seemed  "just  on  the  verge  of  heaven." 
In  him.  Death,  instead  of  appearing  as  the  king  of  terrors, 
assumed  the  mild  and  i)Icasing  aspect  of  a  messenger  of 
peace.  One  day,  on  awaking  from  a  short  sleep,  he  ex- 
claimed, "  I  am  so  happy,  that  at  this  rate  I  thought  I  could 
live  out  four  generations."  He  desired  that  all  the  natives 
who  knew  him  might  be  told  that  he  was  not  afraid  to  die, 
that  there  was  no  Saviour  but  Christ,  and  that  unless  they 
believed  in  him,  they  would  perish  forever.  His  peaceful 
departure  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  minds  of  his  visi- 
tors and  other  friends.  "  Surely,"  said  one  gentleman  who 
often  saw  him,  "this  must  be  genuine  religion,  which  so 
sticks  by  a  man  in  his  dying  moments."  The  doctor  who 
attended  him,  acknowledged,  that  he  never  saw  a  person 
so  composed,  resigned,  and  prepared  for  death  as  Mr.  Foun- 
tain, and  expressed  a  wish  to  die  like  him.  To  die  like  him, 
indeed,  appeared  so  enviable,  that  another  gentleman  could 
not  helj)  wishing  himself  in  his  stead,  with  such  a  bright  and 
glorious  prospect  before  him.  Being  one  day  asked  where 
he  would  be  buried,  he  misunderstood  the  question,  and  sup- 
posing that  it  related  to  an  inscription  for  his  tomb,  he  re- 
plied, "  Let  there  be  no  epitath  on  me;"  but  shortly  after 
he  added,  "  If  any  thing  be  said,  let  it  be  this: 

JOHN  FOUNTAIN, 

MISSIONARY   TO  THE    INDIES, 

AGED   33. 

A   SINNER    SAVED    BY   GRACE.'" 


180  Fropagation  of  Christianity 

Nature  being  at  length  exhausted,  he  sunk  under  the  ra- 
vages of  his  disorder,  and  quietly  resigned  his  spirit  into 
the  hands  of  the  Redeemer,  leaving  behind  him  a  widow,  to 
whom  lie  had  been  married  little  more  than  nine  months, 
and  who  shortly  after  was  delivered  of  a  fine  boy,  a  fatherless 
child,  in  a  strange  land.* 

Hitherto,  the  missionaries  had  laboured  among  the  Hin-^ 
doos  with  little  or  no  success.  Thirteen  years  had  now 
elapsed  since  Mr.  Thomas  entered  on  the  work,  and  in  the 
course  of  that  period  he  had  thrown  much  away  on  deceit 
ful,  or  at  least  unfruitful  characters.  Mr.  Carey,  though  he  had 
not  relaxed  in  his  labours,  was  much  discouraged;  all  hope 
of  his  own  success  had  now  in  fact  nearh^  expired.  "  I  acknow- 
ledge," says  he,  "  that  want  of  success,  together  with  a  sense 
of  m}"  great  carnality  and  unfitness  for  so  important  an  under- 
taking has  not  a  little  damped  my  spirits.  I  know  the  Lord  can 
work  by  the  meanest  instruments,  but  I  often  question  whe- 
ther it  would  be  for  his  honour  to  work  by  such  a  one  as  me. 
Perhaps  it  would  too  much  sanction  carnal  security  and 
guilty  sloth  in  others,  if  a  person  so  deeply  sunk  in  these 
evils  should  meet  with  an  eminent  blessing."  Such  was  the 
humility  of  this  excellent  man!  But  as  the  hopes  of  the  mis- 
sionaries were,  perhaps,  never  so  low,  their  prayers  seem 
never  to  have  been  more  ardent.  By  desire  of  Mr.  Thomas, 
who  came  about  this  time  on  a  visit  to  Serampore,  a  weekly 
prayer  meeting  for  the  success  of  the  mission  was  begun;  he 
himself  seems  to  have  been  more  than  usually  strengthened 
to  wrestle  for  a  blessing;  and  in  speaking  of  his  brethren,  he 
says,  "  a  holy  unction  appears  to  rest  on  them  all,  especially 
of  late;  times  of  refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord 
have  been  frequent,  solemn,  and  lasting."  What  was  ob- 
served of  Mr.  Carey,  seems  likewise  to  have  been  common 
to  all  the  other  missionaries,  that  the  death  of  Christ  was 
more  and  more  the  subject  of  their  preaching,  a  circumstance 

*  I'erlod.  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  S3. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  181 

which  seems  almost  uniformly  to  have  been  attendant  on  the 
success  of  the  gospel  among  the  Heathen.* 

Such  was  the  state  of  the  mission,  when  about  the  end  of 
November,  Mr.  Thomas  was  called  to  visit  a  Hindoo  of  the 
name  of  Kristno,  who  had  dislocated  one  of  his  arms.  After 
reducing  it,  he  talked  to  him  of  the  news  of  salvation  through 
Jesus  Christ  The  man  had  heard  the  gospel  before,  and 
was  struck  with  it;  now  he  wept  and  sobbed  like  a  child. 
Three  or  four  weeks  after,  Kristno,  together  with  another 
of  the  natives  named  Gokool,  came  and  ate  publicly  with  the 
missionaries,  and  thus  voluntarily  threw  away  their  cast, 
which  had  hitherto  seemed  like  a  fortress  next  to  impregna- 
ble. In  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  both  of  them,  together 
with  Kristno's  wife  and  her  sister,  who  were  also  seriously 
impressed  by  the  gospel,  presented  themselves  before  the 
church,  and  made  a  solemn  profession  of  their  faith  in 
Christ,  and  of  obedience  to  his  commands.  The  whole  of 
the  exercise  was  highly  satisfactory  and  delightful  to  all;  as 
for  Mr.  Thomas,  he  was  almost  overcome  with  joy.f 

As  soon  as  it  was  noised  abroad  that  these  people  had  lost 
cast,  the  whole  neighbourhood  was  in  an  uproar;  and  ha- 
ving seized  Kristno  and  his  family,  they  dragged  them  before 
the  chief  magistrate,  but  he,  instead  of  censuring,  dismissed 
them  with  commendations  for  their  conduct.  They  then 
brought  them  back  under  a  fresh  charge,  accusing  Kristno 
of  refusing  to  deliver  up  his  daughter  to  a  young  Hindoo, 
to  whom  she  had  been  contracted  in  marriage  about  four 
years  before,  but  was  sent  back  to  remain  at  her  father's  till 
she  should  be  of  proper  age.  Hearing,  however,  of  their  em- 
bracing the  gospel,  the  young  man  came  to  Seranipore  with, 
some  of  his  friends,  and  distributing  a  little  money  among  the 
populace,  raised  a  mob,  who  carried  them  before  the  magis- 
trate. The  parties  having,  by  order  of  the  governor,  appeared 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  i.  p.  488;  vol.  ii.  p.  124,  158,  161,  165.  Brief  NaiTative.. 
p.  31. 

t  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  122,  124,  140. 


182  Propagation  of  Christianity 

i^efore  himself,  the  girl  declareid  she  would  become  a 
Christian  along  with  her  father;  while  the  young  man  to 
whom  she  was  espoused,  on  being  asked  whether  he  would 
renounce  Heathenism,  replied  in  the  negative.  Upon  this, 
the  governor  told  him,  that  he  could  not  possibly  deliver  up 
a  Christian  woman  to  a  Heathen  man;  and,  therefore,  unless 
he  cordially  embraced  Christianity,  he  should  not  have  her. 
Thus  the  matter  terminated  for  the  present,  to  the  great  joy 
of  the  poor  girl,  who  was  much  afraid  of  being  brought  into 
this  connection.* 

Intimidated  by  the  violent  proceedings  of  the  mob,  or 
overcome  by  the  tears  and  entreaties  of  their  relations, 
Gokool  and  the  two  women  begged  to  delay  their  baptism 
for  some  weeks.  Kristno,  however,  remamed  firm  and 
steadfast  amidst  the  storm;  and  on  the  last  Sabbath  of  the 
year  was  baptized  in  the  neighbouring  river,  together  with 
Felix  Carey,  the  eldest  son  of  Mr.  Carey,  then  a  youth  of 
about  fifteen,  and  who  has  since  proved  a  useful  and  active 
missionary.  The  governor,  and  a  number  of  Europeans, 
Portuguese,  Hindoos,  and  Mussulmen  attended.  All  was 
silence  and  attention.  The  governor  could  not  refrain  from 
tears,  and  almost  the  whole  of  the  spectators  seemed  to  be 
struck  with  the  solemnity  of  the  ordinance.! 

But  though  Satan  found  means  to  delay  the  baptism  of 
the  other  three,  his  triumph  was  of  short  duration.  By 
degrees  they  all  took  courage  and  were  baptized;  and  even 
Gokool's  wife,  whose  opposition  to  his  baptism  was  the  chief 
cause  of  its  delay,  followed  his  example  in  a  few  months. :[: 
Besides  these  natives,  there  was  baptized  by  a  Mr.  Fernan- 
dez, a  gentleman  from  Dinagepore,  with  whom  Carey  and 
Thomas  had  formed  an  acquaintance  when  they  were  in  that 
part  of  the  country.  He  was  born  at  Macao,  on  the  coast  of 
China,  of  Portuguese  extraction,  and  was  educated  for  a 

*  Periodical  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  125,  143- 

t  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  1).  127. 

i.  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  131,  169, 180,  185. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  1^3 

Koman  Catholic  priest;  but  being  shocked  with  the  worship 
of  images,  he  at  length  left  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  now 
made  a  public  profession  of  the  Protestant  faith.  During 
the  short  stay  which  he  made  at  Serampore  on  this  occasion, 
he  was  charmed  with  the  amiable  deportment  of  the  mis- 
sionaries in  private  life,  and  was  extremely  loath  to  leave 
tliem.  He  and  another  gentleman  used  to  call  them,  "  the 
bappy  family."  After  his  return  to  Dinagepore,  he  erected 
a  school  at  his  own  expense,  for  the  education  of  native 
children;  he  began  also  to  preach  to  them  and  to  his  servants, 
of  whom  he  had  about  a  hundred,  and  he  was  at  length  set 
apart  to  the  ministry,  though  he  still  continued  to  carry  on 
his  own  business.* 

In  February  1801,  the  missionaries  gained  another  impor- 
tant triumph,  by  the  publication  of  the  New  Testament  in 
the  Bengalee  language.  The  translation  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures for  the  use  of  the  natives,  was  an  object  on  which  their 
hearts  had  long  been  set.   "  I  would  give  a  million  of  pounds, 
if  I  had  them,"  said  Mr.  Thomas  with  his  usual  ardour,  "  to 
see  a  Bengalee  Bible."  He  had  accordingly  translated  seve- 
ral books,  even  before  his  visit  to  England;  but  this  was  a 
work  for  which  he  was  less  calculated  than  for  some  other 
parts  of  missionary  labour.     Mr.  Carey,  however,  was  qual- 
ified,  in  no  ordinary  degree  for  the  undertaking;  and  ever 
since  he  had  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  language,  he  had 
laboured  with  unwearied  diligence,  and  the  most  assiduous 
zeal,  in  the  prosecution  of  it.     He  had  finished  the  transla- 
tion of  the  New  Testament  three  or  four  years  ago,  and  was 
extremely  anxious  to  have  had  it  printed  without  delay;  but 
various  difficulties  prevented  the  accomplishment   of   his 
wishes,  a  circumstance  which  was  probably  favourable  to 
the  correctness  of  the  version.  But  soon  after  the  settlement 
of  the  mission  at  Serampore,  a  press  was  erected  under  the 
superintendence  of  Mr.  Ward,  and  the  printing  of  the  New 

•  Period.  Acrounts,  vol.  i.  p.  .'391;  vol.ii.p.  1.31,  148,  512,  528. 


184  l^ropagation  of  Christianitij 

Testament,  as  well  as  of  several  tracts,  begun.  Mr.  Carey 
had  originally  proposed  to  throw  oiF  10,000  copies;  but  as 
it  was  naturally  supposed  the  translation  would  afterwards 
require  many  alterations  and  improvements,  it  was  judged 
expedient  to  limit  the  impression  to  2000  copies,  and  500 
of  the  gospel  according  to  Matthew,  with  some  of  the  most 
remarkable  predictions  concerning  our  Saviour  annexed  to 
it.  The  whole  was  finished  in  the  short  space  of  about  nine 
months.* 

Soon  after  the  publication  of  the  New  Testament,  Mr. 
Carey  was  appointed  by  Marquis  Wellesley,  the  British  go- 
vernor-general, teacher  of  the  Bengalee  and  Sungskrit  lan- 
guages in  the  lately  instituted  college  of  fort  William.  He 
had  no  expectation  of  such  an  appointment;  and  when  the 
application  was  made  to  him,  he  had  some  hesitation  in  ac- 
cepting of  it,  lest  it  should  interfere  with  his  proper  work  as 
a  missionary;  nor  did  he  accept  of  it  until  he  had  consulted 
with  his  brethren,  who  thought,  that  instead  of  obstructing, 
it  would  promote  the  interests  of  the  mission.  He  was  after- 
wards advanced  to  the  rank  of  a  professor  in  the  college,  and 
his  salary  raised  to  a  thousand  rupees  a  month,  or  about 
1400/.  a  year;  the  whole  of  which,  agreeably  to  the  establish- 
ed rules  of  the  family,  he  generously  devoted  to  the  purposes 
of  the  mission,  t 

But  while  the  missionaries  beheld  their  labours  crowned 
with  such  signal  prosperity,  it  was  by  no  means  unmingled 
with  adversity.  After  a  long  and  painful  illness,  Mr.  Bruns- 
don  departed  this  life  at  Calcutta  in  the  beginning  of  July; 
and  in  October  following,  Mr.  Thomas  died  at  Dinagepore, 
of  a  flux  and  fever.  Thus,  in  the  course  of  less  than  two 
years,  Providence  was  pleased  to  call  off"  this  earthly  stage, 
MO  fewer  than  four  of  the  missionaries;   while  three  only 


*  Periotl.  Accounts,  vol.  i.  p.  292.  Memoir  relative  to  the  translations  of  the 
Scriptures,  addressed  to  the  Baptist  3Iissionary  Societv,  p.  4.  Period.  Accounts^ 
vol.  i.  p.  368,  427,  517;  vol.  ii.  p.  62,  182. 

t  Brief  Narrative,  p.  37.    Missionary  Mag.  vol.  sii,  p.  481. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  18$ 

remciincd  to  carry  on  tliose  important  and  increasing  labours 
which  now  devolved  upon  them.*  As  Mr.  Thomas  was 
the  original  founder  of  the  mission,  it  may  not  be  improper 
to  give  a  slight  sketch  of  his  peculiar,  yet  interesting  char- 
acter. 

Mr.  Thomas  was  a  man  of  most  exquisite  sensibility,  com- 
l)ined  with  remarkable  seriousness  and  deep  devotion.  He 
seldom,  however,  walked  in  an  even  path:  he  was  either 
full  of  cheerful  active  love,  or  his  hands  hung  down  as  if  he 
had  no  hope:  his  joys  bordered  on  ecstacy;  his  sorrows  on 
despair.  J 

His  talents,  at  first  sight,  seemed  better  adapted  for  writing 
and  conversation  than  for  preaching;  but,  in  fact,  they  were 
accommodated  to  that  kind  of  preaching  to  which  he  was 
called;  a  lively,  metaphorical,  pointed  address,  dictated  by 
the  circumstances  of  the  moment,  and  maintained  amidst 
the  interruptions  and  contradictions  of  a  Pagan  audience. 
One  day,  after  addressing  a  number  of  the  natives  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ganges,  he  was  accosted  by  a  Brahmin  as  fol- 
lows: "  Sahib,  don't  you  say  that  the  devil  tempts  men  to 
sin?"  "  Yes,"  answered  Mr.  Thomas.  "  Then,"  said  the 
Brahmin,  "  certainl}'  it  is  the  devil  who  is  in  the  fault;  the 
devil,  therefore,  not  man,  ought  to  suffer  the  punishment." 
While  the  people  discovered  by  their  looks  their  approba- 
tion of  this  mode  of  reasoning,  Mr.  Thomas  observed  a  boat 
with  several  men  on  board,  sailing  on  the  river,  and,  with 
that  facility  of  reply  for  which  he  was  so  distinguished,  an- 
swered, "  Brahmin,  do  you  see  yonder  boat?"  "  Yes,"  said 
he.  "  Suppose,*'  added  Mr.  Thomas,  "  I  were  to  send  some 
of  my  friends  to  destroy  every  person  on  board,  and  to  bring 
me  all  that  is  valuable  in  it;  who  ought  to  suffer  the  punish- 
ment, I  for  instructing  them,  or  they  for  doing  the  wick- 
ed action."    "  Why,"  answered  the  Brahmin,   with  some 

•  Periodicul  Accounts,  vol  ii.  p.  l99,  254. 
t  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  247. 

VOL.  n.  ?  A 


186  J^ropagation  of  Christianity 

emotion,  "  you  ought  all  to  be  put  to  death  together."  "  Yes, 
Brahmin,"  said  Mr.  Thomas,  "  and  if  you  and  the  devil  sin 
together,  the  devil  and  you  will  be  punished  together."* 

Never,  perhaj^s,  did  a  man  enjoy  more  exquisitely  the 
pleasure  of  doing  good  than  Mr.  Thomas:  it  was  a  perfect 
luxury  to  him;  it  seemed  to  transport  his  very  soul.  Such 
was  his  sympathy  for  the  poor  afflicted  Hindoos,  that  it  often 
affected  his  own  health.  Happily  his  medical  skill  afforded 
him  ample  means  of  administering  to  their  relief;  and  such 
was  his  reputation  among  them,  that  they  came  from  thirty 
to  forty  miles  round  to  consult  him:  there  v/ere  almost 
always  patients  at  his  door;  and  when  he  travelled  through 
the  country,  the  people  flocked  to  him  in  great  numbers. 
"  There  is  such  a  sweetness,"  says  he,  "  in  relieving  the 
miserable,  that  I  wonder  any  man  should  deny  himself  that 
pleasure  who  is  able  to  afford  it.  What  a  luxury  it  is,  (and  my^ 
eyes  are  full  of  tears  while  I  write,)  to  see  poor  helpless  crea- 
tures come  to  your  door,  their  countenances  the  picture  of 
despair,  and  their  bodies  half  dead.  Relieve  them,  and  be- 
hold they  are  so  overjoyed,  that  they  almost  fear  it  is  a  dream. 
This,  I  say,  is  a  luxury,  and  the  most  luxurious  pleasure  I 
have  tasted  here  on  earth,  except  only  the  exceeding  riches 
of  the  grace  of  God  toward  us  in  Christ  Jesus,  who,  though 
he  was  rich,  yet  for  our  sakes  became  poor."f 

Mr.  Thomas,  indeed,  was  a  man  to  whom  no  person  that 
knew  him  could  feel  indifferent;  he  was  sure  either  to  excite 
love  or  aversion.  In  general,  his  social  affectionate  carriage 
produced  attachment;  and  even  when  he  gave  offence  to  his 
friends,  a  single  interview  often  dissipated  their  resentment, 
and  rekindled  all  their  former  affection.  J 

Possessed,  however,  as  Mr.  Thomas  was  of  many  excellent 
and  amiable  qualities,  his  faults  were  neither  few  nor  incon- 

*  Pci'lodical  Accounts,  vol.  li.  p.  248.     Evangelical  Magazine,  vol  xx.  p.  303. 
T  Perictlical  Accounts,  vol,  i.  p.  292,  314,  A79;  vol.  ii.  p.  251. 
t  Ibiil.  vol.  ii.p.  251. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  187 

siderable.  He  was  of  an  irritable  temper,  wanting  in  econo- 
my, and  mdre  ardent  to  form  great  and  generous  plans  than 
patient  to  execute  them.  But  when  we  consider  the  trials 
he  had  to  endure,  (and  few  men  had  more  in  so  short  a 
life,)  especially  when  we  think  of  the  affliction  which  over- 
took him  some  months  before  his  death,  by  which  he  was 
for  several  weeks  in  a  state  of  complete  mental  derange- 
ment, we  feel  disposed  to  pity  rather  than  to  censure  him; 
as  little  or  no  doubt  remains,  that  the  unevenness  of  his 
temper,  and  other  irregularities  with  which  he  was  charged, 
proceeded  from  a  tendency  in  his  constitution  to  that  dread- 
ful malady.* 

For  a  short  time  before  his  death,  it  was  obvious  to  him- 
self, as  well  as  to  his  friends,  that  he  was  gliding  swiftly  down 
the  stream  of  time  into  the  ocean  of  eternity.  The  world  and 
all  sublunary  things  seemed  now  to  recede  from  his  view, 
like  the  sun  sinking  below  the  distant  mountains.  Wearied 
out  with  the  storms  of  life,  he  longed  to  reach  that  happy 
land,  where  peace,  tranquility,  and  joy,  reign  with  uninter- 
rupted sway.  The  king  of  terrors  he  beheld  as  if  it  had 
been  an  angel  of  peace,  and  anticipated  with  delight  the  su- 
blime and  exquisite  pleasure  to  which  it  would  soon  intro- 
duce him.  Towards  the  close  of  his  sickness,  his  pains  were 
exceedingly  great;  but  even  in  the  midst  of  extreme  anguish 
he  exclaimed,  "  O!  Death,  where  is  thy  sting?"  At  length, 
after  a  severe  conflict,  he  breathed  his  last,  and  no  doubt  en- 
tered into  the  joy  of  the  Lord.f 

Tlie  missionaries  who  survived  did  not,  houever,  relax  in 
their  exertions,  in  consequence  of  these  severe  and  repeated 
strokes  of  Providence.  Early  in  1802,  they  began  to  erect  a 
free  school  for  the  children  of  converted  natives,  and  such 
other  youths  as  might  lose  cast;  and  proposed  to  board  and 
clothe  them,  as  well  as  to  instruct  them  in  the  English  and 
Bengalee  languages,  in  divinity,  history,  geography,  and 
astronomy.  In  the  evening  they  usually  went  into  the  streets 

•  Periodical  Acccrmits,  vol.  ii.  p.  251,  f  Ibid.  x-ol.  ii.  p,  252,  254. 


188  Prbpagation  of  Christianity 

of  Serampore,  where  they  conversed,  disputed,  or  distributed 
papers,  according  to  circumstances;  and  though  most  of  the 
people  mocked,  despised,  and  insuhed  them,  yet  some  were 
disposed  to  hear  them,  and  to  read  the  tracts.  The  Brah- 
mins  were  forced  to  fly  from  the  disputes,  or  to  hear  their 
system  exposed  to  contempt  before  the  populace,  who  till 
now  had  reverenced  them  as  gods;  many  things  which  used 
formerly  to  be  taken  for  granted  by  the  people,  now  became 
matter  of  dispute,  and  even  Sooders  learned  to  doubt.  Some 
of  the  missionaries  also  travelled  through  the  country,  and 
in  these  journies  preached  the  gospel  to  multitudes  who  had 
never  heard  it  before,  distributed  thousands  of  tracts,  and,  in 
such  places  as  seemed  most  eligible,  copies  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament. These  were  received  by  the  people  with  the  utmost 
avidity;  and  some  of  them  were  carried  even  as  far  as 
Benares,  a  distance  of  more  than  three  hundred  miles. 
These  excursions  were  followed  by  numbers  of  the  natives 
coming  to  Serampore  from  different  parts  of  the  country, 
twenty,  thirty,  forty,  and  even  sixty  miles  distant,  to  inquire 
after  the  new  way  of  salvation,  concerning  which  they  had 
obtained  some  information,  either  from  seeing  the  papers 
circulated  by  the  missionaries,  or  by  conversing  with  those 
who  had  seen  them.  During  their  stay,  they  ate  and  drank 
with  Kristno's  family,  by  which  they  in  effect  renounced 
their  cast.* 

The  missionaries,  indeed,  now  discovered,  that  numbers 
of  the  Hindoos,  though  they  did  not  abandon  their  casts,  yet 
despised  them  in  their  hearts,  and  even  spoke  of  them  with 
contempt.  Mr.  Carey  lately  met  with  a  Brahmin,  who  told 
him,  that  he  had  read  some  part  of  the  Bible  in  English; 
that  he  paid  no  regard  to  the  Hindoo  idols;  and  that  there 
were  several  others  of  the  same  cast  as  himself,  who  were  of 
similar  sentiments.  To  shew  his  contempt  of  Hindooism,  he 
set  his  foot  on  the  gaytree,  or  sacred  verse,  which  none  but 
a  Brahmin  may  pronounce;  and  afterwards  he  took  the  poito 

•  rcrlod.  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  226,  235,  238,  268. 


hy  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  189 

trom  his  neck,  and  wound  it  round  his  great  toe.  He  men- 
tioned the  manner  in  which  he  had  talked  with  the  Brahmins 
about  consecrating  a  stone,  and  setting  it  up  as  a  God;  and 
certainly  his  reasoning,  though  sarcastic,  was  not  inconclu- 
sive: "  You  know,"  said  he,  "  that  this  is  a  stone;  a  work- 
man cut  it  into  its  present  form;  before  it  was  thus  shaped  it 
could  do  nothing,  and  can  you  suppose  that  the  labours  of 
a  stonecutter  can  invest  it  with  divine  power?"  "  No,"  they 
replied,  "  but  the  priest  annoints  it,  and  pronounces  the 
words  of  consecration,  upon  which  the  divinity  enters  into 
it."  "  Well,"  said  he,  "  if  you  have  power  to  invest  a  stone 
with  divinity,  I  should  think  you  could  turn  a  man  into  a 
deity.  You  see  I  am  a  poor  man,  and  suffer  much  distress 
in  the  world;  but  a  stone  meets  with  no  trouble:  besides,  I 
can  not  only  speak,  but  eat  the  sacrifices,  which  a  stone  can- 
not. Now,  why  not  turn  me  into  a  god?  If  you  could  do 
this,  it  would  be  an  act  of  charity;  for  I  should  get  rid  of  all 
my  troubles,  and  be  happy  at  once.  Besides,  being. a  man 
and  a  Brahmin,  I  have  the  first  claim  upon  you."-'^- 

The  missionaries,  indeed,  now  discovered  whole  commu- 
nities of  the  Hindoos,  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  who 
despised  their  casts,  their  Brahmins,  and  their  gods.  About 
forty  or  fifty  years  ago,  a  man,  by  birth  a  cow-keeper,  began 
to  draw  a  number  of  the  people  to  him,  by  pretending  to 
cure  diseases,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  a  new  sect,  which 
now  amounts  to  some  thousands.  His  son,  named  Dulol, 
succeeded  him  as  their  leader,  and  now  resided  in  a  villag-e 
about  twenty  miles  above  Serampore,  where  he  lives  in  all 
the  splendour  of  a  Rajah,  by  means  of  the  liberal  gifts  of  his 
followers,  who  assembled  in  that  place,  from  all  parts  of  the 
country,  several  t  mcs  a  year.  This  sect  seems  to  have  few 
distinguishing  tenets,  'i'he  chief  are  that  the  cast  is  nothing 
— that  the  debtahs  arc  nothing — that  the  Brahmins  are  noth- 
ing.    Dulol  had  succeeded  to  the  power  and  influence  of  the 

*  Period.  Accounts,\ol.  ii.  p.  235.  Missionary  Magazine,  vol.  viii.  p.  1*8, 


190  Propagation  of  Christianity 

whole  priestly  order.  They  meet  and  eat  togetlier  every 
year;  but  vet  they  dissemble  the  fact,  and  retain  their  rank 
in  their  respective  casts  and  families;  and  while  they  pro- 
fess to  despise  the  debtahs,  they  continue  to  worship  them, 
calling  it  outward  work.  In  short,  they  were  Hindoos  be- 
fore the  world — Antinomians  in  heart  and  life — and  Deists 
among  themselves.* 

Being  invited  by  another  class  of  Hindoo  dissenters  at 
Luckphool,  in  the  district  of  Jessore,  to  come  and  explain 
the  gospel  to  them,  it  was  agreed  that  Mr.  Marshman  should 
go  and  visit  them.  On  his  arrival  at  that  place,  he  was  re- 
ceived by  them  in  a  most  kind  and  affectionate  manner;  and 
when  he  preached  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  to  them,  they 
listened  with  a  pleasure  and  earnestness  rarely  witnessed  in 
India.  They,  indeed,  put  questions  to  him  as  he  proceeded, 
demanded  proof  for  every  thing  and  started  some  objections 
to  what  he  said;  but  all  was  in  the  spirit  of  candour  and  im- 
partiality. He  learned,  that  they  were  about  two  hundred 
in  number  in  that  and  the  adjacent  villages,  and  consisted  of 
Mussulmen  and  Hindoos  of  various  casts.  They  professed, 
however,  to  be  convinced  of  the  absurdity  and  wickedness 
both  of  the  Mahommedan  and  the  Brahminical  systems;  but 
acknowledged  that  they  were  yet  ignorant  of  the  true  reli- 
gion, and,  therefore,  having  heard  of  the  gospel,  were  desi- 
rous to  learn  its  nature  and  principles.  Neeloo,  their  leader, 
was  a  grave  and  elderly  man,  and,  it  was  said,  had  always 
been  so  distinguished  for  the  meekness  of  his  temper,  that  he 
avoided  the  very  spot  which  had  been  the  scene  of  a  quarrel; 
and  if  any  of  his  followers  became  fretful  under  injuries,  he 
admonished  them  to  bear  all  with  patience,  or  not  to  come 
near  him.  He  appeared  to  abominate  the  whole  of  the  Brah- 
minical system,  and  even  to  manifest  a  tender  concern  for 
its  deluded  votaries,  wondering,  it  was  said,  how  his  follow- 
ers could  be  happy  amidst  such  a  general  destruction  of  the 

♦  Pwiod.  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  262,  2r8. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  191 

souls  of  their  fellow  creatures.  He  had  taught  them  there 
was  one  God,  whom  he  called  Father,  who  alone  was  to  be 
worshipped;  that  sin  was  to  be  forsaken;  and  that  a  farther 
revelation  was  to  be  expected:  and  now  he  recommended  the 
gospel  to  them,  as  being  that  revelation  he  had  led  them  to 
look  for.  It  was  afterwards  found,  indeed,  that  with  these 
opinions  he  mingled  no  small  portion  of  Pagan  error;  and 
that,  among  other  things,  he  and  his  followers  maintained 
the  doctrine  of  universal  restitution,  an  idea  very  prevalent 
in  India.* 

In  returning  from  Luckphool,  Mr.  Marshman  was  informed 
of  a  man,  named  Seeb  Ram  Dass,  who  also  rejected  idolatry, 
and  was  said  to  have  about  20,000  followers,  consisting  both 
of  Hindoos  and  Mussulmen.  On  going  to  visit  him,  the 
old  man  received  liim  in  a  very  friendly  manner,  and  even 
expressed  hig  approbation  of  what  he  heard  of  the  gospel. 
Afterwards,  however,  when  he  understood  something  more 
of  its  nature,  he  wrote  to  his  disciples  in  other  places,  warn- 
ing them  against  it,  telling  them,  that  if  they  regarded  it,  they 
would  have  pigs  faces,  and  go  to  hell  for  a  long  time  after 
death.  It  is  a  circumstance  not  unworthy  of  observation, 
that  the  missionaries  uniformly  found,  that  so  long  as  people 
did  not  understand  the  import  of  their  message,  they  ap- 
peared to  lisien  to  it;  but  the  moment  they  understood  some-^ 
thing  of  its  nature,  they  either  became  indifferent,  or  began 
to  ridicule  and  oppose  it,  unless  it  came  with  pouer  to  their 
hearts,  t 

Besides  visiting  these  numerous  sects  of  Hindoo  dissen- 
ters, tlie  missionaries  received  an  invitation  from  a  respecta- 
ble family  at  Chinsurah,  who  were  followers  of  a  man  named 
Chytunya,  who,  three  or  four  years  ago,  set  up  a  new  sect 
in  Bengal,  reprobated  the  distinction  of  casts,  and  contem- 
ned the  various  idols  worshipped  by  the  Hindoos.  These 
people  shewed  no  disposition  to  embrace  the  gospel;  but 

*  Pt  riod.  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  304,  .114.  .'538,  544.  593. 
t  Ibid,  vnl.p.  Srv  147.  .173,401 


192  Propagation  of  Christianity 

they  manifested  a  violent  enmity  to  the  Brahmins;  and  in  a 
curious  memorial  which  they  soon  after  presented  to  the 
chief  magistrate  of  the  police  at  Calcutta,  they  complained, 
that  as  it  was  a  great  misery  to  be  born  into  this  world  even 
but  once,  the  Brahmins  were  extremely  culpable  in  neglecting 
to  instruct  them,  since,  by  this  means,  they  rendered  them 
liable,  as  a  punishment  for  their  sins,  to  be  born  many  times. 
These  various  classes  of  Hindoos,  though  they  despised  the 
religion  of  their  country  in  their  hearts,  conformed  to  it  in 
their  practice,  for  the  sake  of  their  reputation  and  comfort  in 
society.  Wearied  with  the  tyranny  of  the  Brahmins,  and 
trained  up  from  their  earliest  years  in  the  belief  of  the  stran- 
gest and  most  incredible  lies,  they  catch  at  every  new  ab- 
surdity, and  become  the  dupes  of  every  bold  imposter. 
Perhaps,  however,  by  loosing  the  shackles  of  Hindooism, 
this  very  circumstance  may  prepare  the  way  for  the  triumph 
of  the  Prince  of  Peace.* 

In  January  1803,  Mr.  John  Charberlaine  and  his  wife, 
who  had  left  England  the  preceding  summer,  arrived  safe  at 
Serampore,  and  were  received  with  peculiar  pleasure,  not 
only  by  the  other  missionaries,  but  by  the  nativ^e  converts. 
Soon  after  their  arrival,  they  beheld  a  new  instance  of  the 
triumph  of  Christianity  over  the  prejudices  of  the  Hindoos: 
Kristno  Prisaud,  a  young  man  of  the  Brahminical  order,  who 
liad  lately  embraced  the  gospel,  was  married  to  one  of  the 
other  converts,  who  was  a  Sooder.  Mr.  Carey,  after  ex- 
plaining the  nature  and  design  of  marriage,  and  noticing  the 
impropriety  of  some  of  the  Hindoo  customs  with  regard  to 
it,  united  them  in  the  bonds  of  matrimony.  On  the  follow- 
ing day  the  missionary  family  supped  with  the  young  cou- 
ple, under  the  shade  where  the  ceremony  had  been  perform- 
ed; while  some  of  the  neighbours  looked  on  with  a  kind  of 
amazement.  This  was,  indeed,  a  new  scene,  in  a  country 
where  the  distinction  of  clean  and  unclean  is  so  rigidly  re- 
gnrded;  it  was  a  glorious  triumph  over  the  cast.     Suppos- 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  ii.p.  565,  366,  391,  403. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  193 

Dig  the  Hindoo  chronology  to  be  true,  tliere  had  not  been 
such  a  spectacle  in  Bengal  for  many  millions  of  years,  as  a 
Brahmin  married  to  a  Sooder;  the  ceremony  performed  not 
in  the  Hindoo  but  the  Christian  fashion;  and  even  foreigners 
eating  with  the  young  couple!^ 

Pleasing,  however,  as  was  the  progress  of  the  work  on  the' 
whole,  the  missionaries  experienced  no  small  perplexity  res- 
pecting sonifc  of  the  converts,  and  were  even  obliged  to  sus- 
pend several  of  them  from  the  Lord's  table,  on  account  of 
certain  irregularities  in  their  behaviour;  but  most  of  these  of- 
fenders were  in  a  short  time  brought  to  a  sense  of  their  sin, 
and  were  of  course,  restored  to  the  communion  of  the  church. 
Mr.  Carey  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  makes  the  following  candid 
and  judicious,  yet  feeling,  observations  respecting  them; 
"  With  regard  to  the  natives,  the  Lord  has,  on  the  one  hand, 
■stopped  the  mouths  of  malignant  opposers,  and  on  the  other, 
we  have  enough  of  labour  with  them,  to  check,  on  our  part, 
security  and  pride.  It  would,  indeed,  give  you  great  plea- 
sure could  you  step  in  among  us  on  a  communion  Sabbath, 
and  witness  the  lively  affection  with  which  such  a  number 
of  persons  of  different  colours,  and  of  distant  tribes,  unite  in 
commemorating  the  death  of  Christ.  You  must  not,  how- 
ever, suppose,  that  the  converts  are  without  their  faults,  or 
even  that  in  knowledge  and  steadiness  they  equal  the  same 
number  of  Christians  in  England.  We  have  to  contend 
with  their  versatility,  to  bear  with  their  precipitancy,  to  nurse 
them  like  children  in  the  ways  of  righteousness.  Sometimes 
we  have  to  rebuke  them  sharply,  sometimes  to  expostulate, 
sometimes  to  entreat;  and  often,  after  all,  to  carry  them  to 
the  throne  of  grace,  and  to  pour  out  our  complaints  before 
God.  Our  situation,  in  short,  may  be  compared  to  that  of 
a  parent  who  has  a  numerous  family.  He  must  work  hard 
to  maintain  them,  is  often  full  of  anxiety  concerning  tliem, 
and  has  much  to  endure  from  their  dullness,  their  indolence, 

*  Perrod.  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  360.  374. 
vot.  n.  .2  B 


194  Propagation  of  Chnstianity 

and  their  perverseness.  Yet  still  he  loves  them,  for  they 
are  his  children,  and  his  love  towards  them  mingles  pleasure 
with  all  his  toil."'^t 

Mean while,  the  Brahmins  and  many  others  of  the  Hin- 
doos were  not  a  little  irritated  by  the  progress  of  the  gospel, 
and  treated  the  missionaries,  as  well  as  the  converts,  with 
great  opposition  and  contempt.     Sometimes  when  the  mis- 

*  Periodieiil  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  356,  416,  43?'. 


t  It  is  not  mivvurthy  of  obsen'ation,  that  the  converts  from  among  the 
Heathen,  both  in  Bengal  and  in  other  countries,  may  be  real  Christians, 
and  yet  notwithstanding  prove  less  amiable  and  consistent  characters, 
than  the  followers  of  Christ  in  places  where  the  gospel  has  long  been 
known.  Human  character,  as  cognizable  by  man.  is  a  compound  of 
different  materials,  and  the  result  of  a  variety  of  causes.  The  general 
state  of  morals  in  a  country,  for  instance,  has  a  mighty  influence  in  reg- 
ulating the  views,  and  influencing  the  conduct  of  the  inhabitants.  In 
Britain,  where  lying,  theft,  robbery,  adultery,  &c.  are  in  a  considerable 
degree  the  objects  of  shame  and  dis<2;race,  no  man,  and  still  le«s  a  Chris- 
tian, can  preserve  his  reputation,  if  he  openly  indulges  in  these  or  sim- 
ilar crimes.  It  is  not  so,  however,  in  Hindostan.  There  such  vices 
are  so  common,  that  no  manner  of  ignominy  attaches  to  them;  and  hence 
there  is  notlung  in  the  tone  of  public  morals  to  restrain  a  Hindoo  from 
these  and  other  gross  immoralities.  If  he  be  restrained  from  them,  it  is 
chiefly  t!i rough  tlie  infiwenco  of  Christian  principles,  and  the  operation 
of  diviiie  grace  on  his  heart.  These  observations  are  true,  not  mere- 
ly of  converts  from  among  the  Heathen  in  modern  times;  they  are  no 
less  applicable  to  the  converts  even  of  the  apostolic  age,  as  appears  from 
the  history  of  W\<i  church  at  Corinth.  That  city,  as  is  well  known,  was 
vicious  to  a  proverb,  and  even  the  Christian  inhabitants  participated  of 
its  vices.  They  divided  into  violent  parties;  they  held  communion  at 
idolatrous  feasts;  they  connived  at  incest,  even  under  its  most  disgrace- 
(ful  form;  they  prostituted  the  Lord's  vSupper  itself  to  the  shameful  pur- 
poses of  drunkenness.  Were  such  a  community  of  professed  Chris- 
tians to  aj^pear  amongst  us,  we  should  probably  deem  them  a  company 
oP  abandoned  hypocrites,  and  give  them  up  as  total  strangers  to  vital 
religion.  Yet  Paul  did  not  act  in  that  manner.  He  followed  them; 
he  exhorted  them;  he  reclaimed  them.  It  is  therefore  not  unworthy  of 
our  serious  inquiry,  Whether  the  purity  and  regularity  of  our  character 
is  not  owing  more  to  various  adventitious  circumstances,  than  to  the 
immediate  influence  of  the  gospel.^  If  all  that  appears  amiable  and  love- 
ly in  us,  which  springs  from  no  higher  source  than  a  regard  to  our  own 
interest  or  reputation,  were  taken  out  of  the  scale,  and  nothing  left  but 
what  was  purely  the  effect  of  Christian  principle,  many  of  us  might  not, 
perhaps,  greatly  outweigh  a  Corintliiaa  or  a  Hindoo. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  195 

5>ionaries  were  preaching,  the  people  shouted  and  laughed, 
attacked  them  with  abusive  language,  and  endeavoured  to 
create  an  uproar.     A  Brahmin  being  one  day  asked,  why  he 
opposed  what  Mr.  Carey  had  said,  made  this  reply,   "  Be- 
cause he  tells  me  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  hated  name."  On  ano- 
ther occasion,  when   Mr.  Marshman  was  endeavouring  to 
quiet  some  of  the  Brahmins,  one  more  insolent  than  the  rest 
declared,  among  other  expressions  equally  respectful,  that  it 
was  a  sin  for  him  to  hear  him,   or  even  to  look  in  his  face. 
The  Christian  converts  were  still  more  exposed  to  the  in- 
solence and  abuse  of  their  countrymen,  than  even  the  mission- 
aries;  but  they  bore  all  with  patience  and  meekne-js,  shew- 
ing no  disposition  to  return  evil  for  evil.     In  Calcutta,  mul- 
titudes of  the  natives  used  to  follow  them  through  the  streets, 
clapping  their  hands,   and  insulting  them  in  every   form. 
Some  abused  them  as  feringas,  others  for  losing  cast;  some 
called  them'l'>.?oo  Khreest^  and  bowing  to  them,  said,  "  Salam 
Yesoo  Khreest."     One  day,  when  several  of  them,  were  in 
a  neighbouring  town,  the  populace  set  upon  them  as  ferin- 
gas, as  destroyers  of  cast,  as  having  eaten  fowls,  eggs,  &c. 
On  their  attempting  to  return,  the  mob  began  to  beat,   and 
otherwise  maltreat  them,  and  a  man  who  was  a  civil  officer 
grazed  the  point  of  a  spear  against  the  body  of  one  of  them. 
Finding  them  bear  all  these  insults  with  patience,  they  threw 
cow-dung,  mixed  in  Gonga  water,  at  them;  talked  of  making 
them  a  necklace  of  old  shoes;  and  threatened,  that  should 
they   ever  return,  they  would  murder  them.     One  of  the 
converts,  who  resided  in  a  distant  village,  was  seized  by  the 
chief  Bengalee  man  of  the  place,  who  bound  his  hands,  and 
dragged  him  from  his  house,  while  the  whole  of  the  villa- 
gers  hissed  at  him,  threw  dirt  and  cow-dung  upon  him,  clog- 
ged his  face,  eyes,  and  ears  with  cow-dung,  and  in  this  state 
kept  him  tied  up  to  the  pillar  of  an  idol  temple,  for  several 
hours.     Besides  these  acts  of  violence,  the  converts  sufFer- 
ered  many  other  serious  inconveniences  from  the  enmity  pf 


196  Propagation  of  Christianity 

their  countrymen.  They  could  scarcely,  for  instance,  ob- 
tain ground  to  build  upon,  or  even  a  house  to  rent.  One  of 
them,  after  going  about  for  two  or  tliree  days,  and  wandering 
over  the  whole  town,  at  last  persuaded  a  woman  to  let  him  3 
house;  but  though  she  herself  was  a  foringa,  yet  when  she 
heard  he  was  a  Brahmin  who  had  turned  a  Christian,  sJie  in* 
suited  him  and  drove  him  away.*- 

Among  the  trials  which  the  converts  had  to  endure,  their 
situation  in  respect  to  marriage,  was  not  the  least  considera- 
ble.    In  some  cases,  they  appeared  to  have  had  more  than 
one  wife  at  the  time  of  their  conversion.     After  discussing 
the  duty,  of  a  person  in  such  circumstances,  the  missionaries, 
however,   seem  to  have  determined,  that  though  the  New 
Testament  condemns  polygamy,  yet  when  a  man  happens  to 
have  more  than  one  wife  when  he  embraces  Christianity,  he 
is  not  required  to  put  any  of  them  away,  only  he  is  thereby 
disqualified  for  the  office  of  the  ministry.     In  other  cases  the 
converts  were  obliged   at  the  same  time  to  forsake  their 
homes,  their  friends,  and  even  the  wife  of  their  bosom;  nor 
would  she  afterwards  have  any  correspondence  with  them; 
Or  if  willing  herself,  was  forcibly  prevented  by  her  relations. 
By  this  means  they  were  to  all  intents  and  purposes  reduced 
to  a  state  of  widowhood,  and  were  in  no  small  danger  of  fall- 
ing into  sin.     It  therefore  became  a  question  with  the  mis- 
sionaries, whether  it  was  not  lawful  for  a  person  in  such  cir- 
cumstances to  marry  a  second  wife  while  his  first  was  still 
living,  after  he  had  in  vain  employed  all  possible  means  to 
induce  her  to  return  to  him,  and  not  being  able  to  recover 
her,  had  taken  some  public  and  solemn  measures  to  acquit 
himself  of  the  blame.  This  question  they  at  length  resolved 
in  the  affirmative;  a  decision  in  which  they  are  supported  by 
some  very  eminent  writers,  and  which  considerably  lessened 
the  difficulty  of  the  case.  These  questions  are  certainly  of  a 

•  Periodical  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  378,  507;  vol.  iii.  p.  38,  41,  ^7,  245.  Missionary 
Magazine,  vol.  viii.  p.  177. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  1 97 

very  delicate  nature:  difficulties  of  no  small  magnitude  attach 
to  whatever  view  we  take  of  them;  yet  the  solution  which 
the  missionaries  gave  of  them,  is  perhaps,  on  the  whole,  the. 
most  scriptural,  rational,  and  just.* 

But  while  the  conversion  of  the  natives  gave  great  offence 
to  their  countrymen  in  general,  it  is  easy  to  conceive  that  in 
Some  instances  it  might  occasion  them  conceni,  and  even  give 
rise  to  scenes  of  the  most  tender  and  affectionate  nature;  for 
superior  as  Christianity  is  to  Hindooism,  it  is  not  to  be  sup- 
posed that  a  Pagan  should  be  sensible  of  its  transcendent  ex- 
cellence.     Of  this  we  have  an  interesting  example   in  thd 
history  of  Soroop,  a  young  Brahmin,   whose   father  came 
to  Serampore  in  order  to  take  him  away.     One  day,  as  Mr. 
Ward   was  sitting  among  the   native  converts  in  the  Ben- 
galee school,   hearing  them  read  and  explain   a  portion  of 
the  Holy   Scriptures,    an  aged   grey  headed   Brahmin,  well 
dressed,  came  in,  and  standing  before  him,  said,  with  folded 
hands,  and   in  a  supplicating  tone  of  voice,  "  Sahib,  I  am 
come  to  ask  an  alms. "    Beginning  to  weep,    he    repeated 
these  words  hastily,  "  I  am  come  to  ask  an  -  -  -  alms."  Mr. 
Ward  desired  him  to  say  what  alms;   and  told  him,  that, 
judging  from  his  looks,  it  did  not  seem  as  if  he  wanted  any 
relief.  Being  pressed  on  the  subject,  the  old  man  at  length 
asked  him  to  give  him  his  son,  pointing  to  a  young  man 
named  Soroop,  in  the  midst  of  the  native  converts;  and  then 
he  set  up  a  plaintive  cry,  saying,  that  Avas  his   son.  Having 
endeavoured  to  comfort  him,  they  at  last  prevailed  on  him  to 
come  and  sit  down  upon  the  veranda.  Here  he  began  to  weep 
again;  and   said,   that  the  young  man's  mother  was  dying 
with  grief;  that  her  time  was  come;  and  that  if  he  could  hwX. 
go  home  and  see  her,  he  should   after  that  return  again,  or 
stay  there,  just  as  he  pleased.  Being  informed  by  Mr.  Ward 
chat  Soroop  since  his  coming  had  been  away  once,  when 

*  Brief  Narrati^*',  p.  50.     Perio(.Tical  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  530;  vol.  iii.  ,314. 


198  l^ropagation  of  Christianity 

they  did  not  hinder  him,  and  that  he  was  still  at  perfect  li- 
berty either  to  stay  or  depart,  as  he  thought  proper;  the  old 
Brahmin  threw  himself  prostrate  at  his  feet,  and  with  tears 
thanked  him  for  these  words.  Mr.  Ward  prevailed  upon  him 
to  rise,  and  endeavoured  to  assuage  his  grief;  but  he  also 
proposed  that  the  young  man  should  stay  all  night,  that  his 
mind  might  become  calm,  and  that  he  might  pray  for  divine 
direction;  and  that  in  the  morning,  if  he  wished  to  go  away, 
they  would  not  hinder  them.  The  Brahmin,  however,  was 
averse  to  this  proposal;  he  again  urged,  that  his  poor  old 
mother  was  dying  of  grief  •  -  -  and  if  he  would  but  go  -  -  - 
and  if  he  did  not  like  to  stay,  he  might  write  a  deed  of  separa- 
tion for  the  preservation  of  their  cast,  and  then  he  might  do 
as  he  pleased.  Mr.  Ward  told  him  his  son  was  not  a  child, 
otherwise  he  might  command  him;  but  as  he  was  now  a  man, 
he  ought  to  choose  his  religion  for  himself.  The  old  man 
acknowledged  the  propriety  of  this,  and  said  it  was  not  in 
his  power  to  use  force  over  him  now.  He  at  length  called 
his  son  aside,  and  set  up  a  great  cry,  weeping  over  him,  and 
beseeching  him  to  return.  It  was  agreed,  however,  that 
Soroop  should  remain  over  the  night;  and  though  the  mis- 
sionaries were  much  afraid  that  he  would  be  overcome  by 
the  tenderness  and  grief  of  his  father,  yet  they  resolved  to 
employ  no  other  influence  with  him  than  exhortation  and 
prayer.  On  leaving  the  school,  Mr.  Ward  found  that  the  old 
man  had  fallen  down  at  the  door  in  an  agony  of  grief,  and 
that  one  or  two  of  his  disciples  who  came  with  him  were 
holding  him  up,  endeavouring  to  persuade  him  to  rise  and  go 
with  them.  Soroop,  from  the  first,  expressed  his  resolution 
not  to  return  with  his  father;  and  next  morning  he  declared 
that  he  would  not  go  now,  but  said  he  would  go  soon,  mean- 
ing  after  he  should  be  baptized.  At  length,  a  person  who 
seemed  to  be  a  friend  of  the  old  Brahmin's  asked.  Whether 
Soroop  had  eaten  with  those  who  were  Christians.  He  was 
answered  in  the  affirmative.    Finding,  therefore,  that  the 


bij  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  199 

young-  man  would  not  go,  and  that  he  had  in  fact  already 
lost  cast,  the  people  who  had  assembled  on  this  occasion 
were  constrained  to  depart.  His  aged  father,  however,  said 
that  he  could  not  return  without  him,  but  would  lie  down 
and  die  at  Serampore.  Such  a  scene  must  have  been  highly 
affecting.  There  was  reason,  however,  to  believe,  we  sup- 
pose, that  the  mother's  illness  was  merely  a  pretence,  to  draw 
the  son  back  to  idolatry* 

In  January  1804,  Mr.  Chamberlaine,  and  Felix  Care}-, 
accompanied  by  two  of  the  native  converts,  went  to  Saugur 
island,  the  furthermost  point  of  land  where  the  river  and  the 
sea  meet,  for  the  purpose  of  distributing  tracts  and  Testa- 
ijients  among  the  Hindoos,  who  assemble  here  in  immense 
crowds  at  this  season  of  the  year.  As  they  approached  that 
place,  they  fell  in  with  numbers  of  boats,  full  of  people,  som6 
of  whom  presented  the  most  degrading  and  disgusting  sights 
it  is  almost  possible  to  imagine.  Their  hair  had  not  been 
dressed,  perhaps,  for  years;  their  beards  had  grow^n  to  an 
enormous  length;  their  bodies  were  covered  with  the  most 
odious  and  indecent  figures.  Some  of  these  wretched 
creatures  had  come  a  journey  of  three,  four,  or  even  five 
months,  to  bathe  in  Gonga  Saugur.  On  reaching  this  place, 
the  missionaries  were  astonished  beyond  measure  at  the  sight 
In  the  course  of  a  few  days,  there  had  been  raised  an  im- 
mensely populous  city,  full  of  streets,  lanes,  and  markets; 
many  kinds  of  trade  were  now  carrying  on  with  all  the  hurry 
and  bustle  of  an  established  town.  Crowds  of  men,  women, 
and  children,  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  were  bathing  in 
the  river  and  worshipping  Gonga,  by  bowing,  making  salams, 
and  spreading  their  offerings;  consisting  of  rice,  flowers, 
cowries,  and  other  articles,  on  the  shore,  for  the  goddess  to 
take  when  the  tide  returned.  Formerly,  many  of  them  used 
to  devote  themselves  or  their  children  to  the  sharks  and  alli- 
gators which  aljound  in  this  part  of  the  river,  and  were  of 

•  ,P:»'0'!.  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  271;  vol. iii.p.  43,  304. 


200  Propugation  of  Christianity 

course  devoured  by  them;  but  of  late,  the  British  goverii^ 
ment  had  passed  an  act  against  this  horrid  practice,  declar- 
ing it  murder,  punishable  with  death;  and  a  guard  of  fifty 
Seapoys,  under  the  command  of  a  European  sergeant,  was 
placed  along  the  banks,  in  order  to  prevent  it.  The  water 
and  mud  of  this  place  are  esteemed  so  precious  and  holy,  that 
quantities  of  them  are  carried  hundreds  of  miles  into  the 
country  on  men's  shoulders.  The  natives  sprinkle  their 
bodies  with  the  water,  and  daub  themselves  with  the  mud; 
and  this,  they  say,  purifies  them  from  all  sin.  't'he  multitude 
assembled  on  this  occasion  was  computed  to  amount  to  one 
hundred  thousand,  though  probably  double  that  estimate 
would  have  been  nearer  the  truth.  Besides  conversing  with 
them  on  the  subject  of  religion,  Mr.  Chamberlaine  and  his 
companions  distributed  among  them  vast  quantities  of  pa- 
pers, tracts,  and  hymns,  together  with  a  number  of  copies 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  of  the  book  of  Psalms.  Most  of 
those  to  whom  they  gave  them  came  from  distant  parts  of 
the  country,  where  the  gospel  had  never  been  made  known, 
and  the  news  of  salvation  never  heard.* 

In  the  month  of  May  following,  Mr.  Chamberlaine  was 
sent  to  form  a  new  missionary  establishment  at  a  place  call- 
ed Cutwa,  about  seventy  miles  from  Serampore,  up  the  river 
Hoogley.  It  was  not,  however,  without  considerable  difficul- 
ty that  he  procured  a  spot  of  ground  for  this  purpose.  He  was 
forced  to  leave  one  place  after  he  had  begun  his  operations, 
through  the  violent  opposition  of  the  people;  but  at  length  he 
procured  a  piece  of  land  consisting  of  about  two  acres,  plea- 
santly situated  by  two  tanks,  and  a  fine  grove  of  mango  trees, 
at  a  smlill  distance  from  the  town.  Having  erected  on  this  spot 
a  spacious  bungalow  for  his  family,  he  lost  no  time  in  begin- 
ning his  labours  among  the  natives.  In  discoursing  with 
them  on  the  subject  of  religion,  he  took  great  delight,  and 
was   often  so  constantly  employed  in  this  exercise,  that  he 

♦  Periedical  Accounts,  voL  ii.  p.  515,  516.     Buchanan's  Christian  Researches, 
3d  adition,  p.  45. 


by  tJie  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  201 

had  scarcely  time  to  refresh  himself.  He  also  opened  a 
school  for  the  education  of  the  youth,  and  placed  it  under 
the  superintendence  of  a  Brahmin.-* 

Mr.  Chamberlaine  had  not  been  many  months  at  Cutwa, 
when  he  sustained  a  severe  loss  in  the  death  of  his  excellent 
■wife.  When  she  was  about  to  be  confined,  Mr.  Marshmaa 
came  up  in  their  budgerow,  with  the  view  of  carrying  her 
down  to  Serampore,  that  she  might  enjoy  all  the  assistance 
and  attention  which  her  situation  demanded;  but  on  reach- 
ing the  house,  he  met  Mr.  Chamberlaine  at  the  door,  almost 
overwhelmed  with  grief  She  had  already  been  delivered 
four  days,  and  at  first  promised  to  do  well;  but  now  all  hope 
of  her  recovery  was  gone,  and  on  the  following  day  she 
breathed  her  last.  Tlic  distress  of  her  bereaved  partner,  at 
the  time  of  her  death,  it  is  more  easy  to  conceive  than  des- 
cribe. Hanging  over  the  lifeless  corpse,  he  exclaimed,  like 
one  half  distracted:  "  Oh!  my  dear  Hannah:  Speak  to  me 
once  more,  my  dear  Hannah!"  She  appears,  indeed,  to  have 
been  a  most  amiable,  affectionate,  pious  woman.  She  was 
so  much  beloved  by  the  whole  missionary  family,  that  her 
loss  was  more  deeply  deplored  by  them,  than  any  other 
death  which  had  happened  among  them.f 

About  a  year  after,  Mr.  Chamberlaine  was  married  to 
Mrs.  Grant,  the  widow  of  the  late  Mr.  Grant,  who  died  im° 
mediately  on  his  landing  in  Bengal;  but  in  a  short  time,  he 
was  deprived  of  her  also,  and  thus  was  left,  if  possible,  more 
desolate  than  ever.  When  the  time  of  her  confinement  drev/ 
near,  the  budgerow  was  sent  up  to  Cutwa,  with  an  earnest 
request  that  she  would  return  with  it,  to  Serampore.  She 
accordingly  went  on  board,  and  sailed  for  that  place;  but 
that  \Q.ry  evening  she  was  taken  in  labour,  and  after  three 
hours  severe  distress  was  delivered  of  a  fine  boy;  but  this 
was  soon  followed  by  symytoms  of  a  dangerous  nature. 
About  six  o'clock  next  morning,   Mr.  Chauiberlaine  per- 

•  Period.  -Vccounts,  vol.  iii.  p.  59,  114.  t  Ibid,  vol  iJi.  p.  69. 

VOL.  n.  '3  C 


202  Propagation  of  Christianity 

ceived  her  countenance  suddenly  alter:  He  spoke  to  htr, 
but  received  no  answer:  She  breathed  gently  a  fevv^  moments, 
closed  her  eyes,  and  fell  asleep  in  Jesus.  "  Thus,"  says  he. 
"  I  am  afflicted  with  wave  upon  w^ave;  and  now-  I  am  like  a 
wreck  after  a  storm.  The  arrows  of  the  Almighty  stick  fast 
in  me,  and  I  am  consumed  v/ith  the  blow  of  his  hand:  Yet 
still,  his  strokes  are  fewer  than  my  sins,  and  lighter  than  my 
guilt.  "  The  Lord  gave  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  aw-ay . 
blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord.'-* 

Besides  these  severe  trials,  Mr.  Chamberlaine  met  with 
violent  opposition  from  the  natives;  but  yet  his  labours  in 
this  place  were  not  in  vain.  Among  several  of  the  Hindoos, 
he  had  often  beheld  some  favourable  symptoms,  w^hich 
cheered  his  heart,  amidst  all  his  toils  and  sorrows.  After 
his  hopes  had  been  often  elevated,  and  as  often  disappointed 
with  regard  to  them,  he  at  length  had  the  pleasure  of  be- 
holding the  fruit  of  his  labours,  in  the  baptism  of  several  of 
the  natives.  But  his  chief  success  was  among  the  British 
soldiers  in  the  fort  of  Berhampore.  In  the  course  of  one 
year,  he  baptized  no  fewer  than  thirty-six  of  them;  but  soon 
after,  as  we  shall  soon  have  occasion  to  notice,  he  was  sent 
on  a  mission  to  Upper  Hindostan;  and  Mr.  William  Carey, 
jun.  one  of  the  sons  of  Dr.  Carey,  was  sent  to  supply  his 
place.  Since  that  time  the  principal  success  has  been  at 
Lakrakoonda,  a  large  town  in  Bheer-boom,  and  the  villages 
around  it,  where  there  is  a  branch  of  the  Cutwa  church. 
Several  schools  have  likewise  been  opened  in  that  part  of 
the  country,  t  Having  given  this  account  of  the  settlement 
at  Cutwa,  it  is  nov/  time  to  return  to  Serampore. 

In  the  year  1805,  Richai'd  Mardon,  William  Moore,  John 
Biss,  and  Joshua  Rowe,  landed  in  Bengal;  and  soon  after 
their  arrival,  the  whole  body  of  the  missionaries  entered  into 
a  "  Form  of  Agreement,"  respecting  the  great  principles  on 
which  the  mission  should  be  conducted.     This  document 

•  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iii.  p.  283. 

t  Ib-.d.  vol.  ili.  p.  22«,  250,  2j2,  335.  Missionary  Register,  vol.  p.  257. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  203 

breathes  so  much  of  the  sph'it  of  genuine  Christianity,  ex- 
hibits so  fully  the  system  of  our  Baptist  brethren  in  Christian- 
izing the  Hindoos,  and  affords  so  admirable  an  example  to 
other  missionaries,  that  we  cannot  forbear  inserting  it  entire, 
and  trust  that  its  importance  will  be  deemed  a  sufficient  apol- 
ogy for  its  length: 

"The  Redeemer,"  say  the  missionaries,  "in  planting  us 
in  this  Heathen  nation  rather  than  in  any  other,  has  imposed 
upon  us  the  cultivation  of  peculiar  qualifications.  We  are 
firmly  persuaded  that  Paul  might  plant  and  Apollos  water  in 
vain  in  any  part  of  the  world,  did  not  God  give  the  increase. 
We  are  sure,  that  only  those  who  are  ordained  to  eternal  life 
will  believe,  and  that  God  alone  can  add  to  the  church  such 
as  shall  be  saved.  Nevertheless  we  cannot  but  observe,  with 
admiration,  that  Paul,  the  great  champion  for  the  glorious 
doctrines  of  free  and  sovereign  grace,  was  the  most  conspicu- 
ous for  his  personal  zeal  in  the  work  of  persuadhig  men  to 
be  reconciled  to  God.  Ivi  this  respect  he  is  a  noble  example 
for  our  imitation.  Our  Lord  intimated  to  those  of  his  apos- 
tles who  were  fishermen,  that  he  would  make  them  fishers  of 
men,  intimating  that  in  all  weathers,  and  amidst  every  dis- 
appointment, they  were  to  aim  at  drawing  men  to  the  shores 
of  eternal  life.  Solomon  says,  "  He  that  vvinneth  souls  is 
wise,"  implying,  no  doubt,  that  the  work  of  gaining  over 
men  to  the  side  of  God  was  done  by  winning  methods,  and 
that  it  required  the  greatest  wisdom  to  do  it  with  success. 
Upon  these  points  we  think  it  right  to  fix  our  serious  and 
abiding  attention. 

I.  In  order  to  be  prepared  for  our  great  and  solemn  work, 
it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  we  set  an  infinite  value  upon 
immortal  souls;  that  we  often  endeavour  to  affect  our  minds 
with  the  dreadful  loss  sustained  by  an  unconverted  soul 
launched  into  eternity.  It  becomes  us  to  fix  in  our  minds 
the  awful  doctrine  of  eternal  punishment,  and  to  realize  fre- 
quently the  inconcci\ab!j^  awful  condition  of  this  vast  coun- 


204  Propagation  of  Christianity 

trVj  lying  in  the  arms  of  the  wicked  one.  If  we  have  not 
this  awful  sense  of  the  value  of  souls,  it  is  impossible  that 
we  can  feel  aright  in  any  other  part  of  our  work,  and  in  this 
case  it  had  been  better  for  us  to  have  been  in  any  other  sit- 
uation rather  than  that  of  a  missionary.  Oh!  may  our  hearts 
bleed  over  these  poor  idolaters,  and  may  their  case  lie  with 
continued  weight  on  our  minds,  that  Ave  may  resemble  that 
eminent  missionary,  Vv^ho  compared  the  travail  of  his  soul,  on 
account  of  the  spiritual  state  of  those  committed  to  his 
charge,  to  the  pains  of  child-birth.  But  while  we  thus 
mourn  over  their  miserable  condition,  we  should  not  be  dis- 
couraged, as  though  their  recovery  v/ere  impossible.  He 
who  raised  the  sottish  and  brutalized  Britons  to  sit  in  heav- 
enly places  in  Christ  Jesus,  can  raise  these  slaves  of  super- 
stition, purif}'^  their  hearts  by  faith,  and  make  them  wor- 
shippers of  the  one  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  The  pro- 
mises are  fully  sufficient  to  remove  our  doubts,  and  to  make 
us  anticipate  that  not  very  distant  period,  when  He  will  fam- 
ish all  the  gods  of  India,  and  cause  these  very  idolaters  to 
cast  their  idols  to  the  moles  and  the  bats,  and  renounce  for- 
ever the  work  of  their  own  hands. 

11.  It  is  very  important  that  we  should  gain  all  the  infor- 
mation vre  can,  of  the  snares  and  delusions  in  which  these 
Heathens  are  held.  By  this  means  we  shall  be  able  to  con- 
verse with  them  in  an  intelligible  manner.  To  know  their 
modes  of  thinking,  their  habits,  their  propensities,  their  an- 
tipathies, the  way  in  which  they  reason  about  God,  sin,  ho- 
liness, the  way  of  salvation,  and  a  future  state;  to  be  aware  of 
the  bewitching  nature  of  their  idolatrous  worship,  f'^asts, 
songs,  &c.  is  of  the  highest  consequence,  if  we  would  gain 
their  attention  to  our  discourse,  and  would  avoid  being  bar- 
barians to  them.  This  knowledge  may  be  easily  obtained 
by  conversing  with  sensible  natives,  by  reading  some  parts 
of  their  works,  and  by  attentively  observing  their  manners 
and  customs. 


hy  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society »  205 

III.  It  is  necessary,  in  our  intercourse  with  the  Hindoos, 
to  abstain,  as  far  as  we  are  able,  from  those  things  which 
would  increase  the  prejudices  against  the  gospel.  Those  parts 
of  English  manners  which  are  most  offensive  to  them  should 
be  kept  out  of  sight  as  much  as  possible.  We  should  also 
avoid  every  degree  of  cruelty  to  animals.  Nor  is  it  advisable 
at  once  to  attack  their  prejudices,  by  exhibiting,  with  acri- 
mony, the  sins  of  their  gods;  neither  should  we,  upon  any 
account,  do  violence  to  their  images,  nor  interrupt  their 
worship:  the  real  conquests  of  the  gospel  are  those  of  love: 
"  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me."  In 
this  respect,  let  us  be  continually  fearful  lest  one  unguarded 
word,  or  one  unnecessary  display  of  the  difference  betwixt 
us,  in  manners,  &c.  should  set  the  natives  at  a  greater  dis- 
tance from  us.  Paul's  readiness  to  become  all  things  to  all 
men,  that  he  might  by  any  means  save  some;  and  his  dispo- 
sition to  abstain  even  from  necessary  comforts,  that  he  might 
not  offend  the  weak,  are  circumstances  worthy  our  particu- 
lar  notice.  This  line  of  conduct  we  may  be  s'jre  was  foun- 
ded on  the  wisest  principles.  Placed  amidst  a  people  very 
much  like  tlie  hearers  of  the  apostle,  in  many  respects  we 
may  now  perceive  the  solid  wisdom  which  guided  him  as  a 
missionary.  The  mild  manners  of  the  Moravians,  and  also 
of  the  Quakers,  towards  the  North  American  Indians,  have, 
in  many  instances,  gained  the  affections  and  confidence  of 
Heathens  in  a  wonderful  manner.  He  who  is  too  proud  to 
stoop  to  others,  in  order  to  draw  them  to  him,  though  he  may 
know  that  they  are  in  many  respects  inferior  to  himself,  is  ill 
qualified  to  become  a  missionary.  The  words  of  a  most  suc- 
cessful preacher  of  the  gospel  still  living,  "  that  he  would 
not  care  if  the  people  trampled  him  under  their  feet,  if  he 
might  become  useful  to  their  souls,"  are  expressive  of  the 
very  temper  we  should  alwajs  cultivate. 

IV.  It  becomes  us  to  watch  all  opportunities  of  doing 
good.  A  missionary  would  be  highly  culpable,  if  he  conten- 


206  Propagation  of  Christiatuty 

ted  himself  with  preaching  two  or  three  times  a  week,  to  those 
persons  whom  he  might  be  able  to  get  together,  into  a  place 
of  worship.  To  carry  on  conversations  with  the  natives  al- 
most every  hour  in  the  day,  to  go  from  village  to  village, 
from  market  to  market,  from  one  assembly  to  another;  to 
talk  to  servants,  labourers,  &c.  as  often  as  opportunity  of- 
fers, and  to  be  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season — this  is 
the  life  to  which  we  are  called  in  this  country.  We  are  apt 
to  relax  in  these  active  exertions,  especially  in  a  warm  cli- 
mate; but  we  shall  do  well  always  to  fix  it  in  our  minds,  that 
life  is  short,  that  all  around  us  are  perishing,  and  that  we  in- 
cur a  dreadful  woe  if  we  proclaim  not  the  glad  tidings  of  sal- 
vation. 

V.  In  preaching  to  the  Heathen,  we  must  keep  to  the  ex- 
ample  of  Paul,  and  make  the  gi-eat  subject  of  our  preaching, 
Christ  the  crucified.  It  would  be  very  easy  for  a  missionary 
to  preach  nothing  but  truths,  and  that  for  many  years  togeth- 
er, without  any  well-grounded  hope  of  becoming  useful  to 
one  soul.  The  doctrine  of  Christ's  expiatory  death  and  all- 
sufficient  merits,  has  been,  and  must  ever  remain,  the  grand 
mean  of  conversion.  This  doctrine,  and  others  immediate- 
ly connected  with  it,  have  constantly  nourished  and  sancti- 
fied the  church.  Oh!  that  these  glorious  truths  may  ever 
be  the  joy  and  strength  of  our  own  souls,  and  then  they  will 
not  fail  to  become  the  matter  of  our  conversation  to  others. 
It  was  the  proclaiming  of  these  doctrines,  that  made  the  re- 
formation from  Popery,  in  the  time  of  Luther,  spread  with 
such  rapidity.  It  was  these  truths  which  filled  the  sermons 
of  the  most  useful  men  in  the  eighteenth  century.  It  is  a 
well-known  fact,  that  the  most  successful  missionaries  in  the 
world,  at  the  present  day,  make  the  atonement  of  Christ 
their  continued  theme; — we  mean  the  Moravians.  They 
attribute  all  their  success  to  the  preaching  of  the  death  of 
our  Saviour.  So  far  as  our  experience  goes  in  this  work, 
we  most  freely  acknowledge,  that  every  Hindoo  among  us 


(nj  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  207 

who  has  been  gained  to  Christ,  has  been  won  by  the  aston- 
ishing and  all  constraining  love  exhibited  in  our  Redeemer's 
propitiatory  death.  Oh!  then  may  we  resolve  to  know 
nothing  among  Hindoos  and  Mussiilmen,  but  Christ  and  him 
crucified. 

VI.  It  is  absolutely  necessary  that  the  natives  should  have 
an  entire  confidence  in  us,  and  feel  quite  at  home  in  our  com- 
pany.    To  gain  this  confidence,  we  must  on  all  occasions  be 
willing  to  hear  their  complaints;  we  must  give  them  the  kind- 
est advice,  and  we  must  decide   upon  every  thing  brought 
before  us  in  the  most  open,  upright,  and  impartial  manner. 
Wg,  ought  to  be  easy  of  access,  to  condescend  to  them  as 
much  as  possible,  and  on  all  occasions  to  treat  them  as  our 
equals.      All  passionate  behaviour  will  sink  our  characters 
exceedingly  in  their  estimation.     All  force,   and  every  thing 
haughty,   reserved,   and  forbidding,  it  becomes  us  ever  to 
shun  w^ith  the  greatest  care.     We  can  never  make  sacrifices 
too  great,  when  the  eternal  salvation  of  souls  is  the  object, 
except,  indeed,  we  sacrifice  the  commands  of  Christ. 

VII.  Another  important  part  of  our  work  is,  to  build  up 
and  to  watch  over  the  souls  that  may  be  gathered.  In  this 
work  \ve  shall  do  well  to  simplify  our  first  instructions  as 
much  as  possible,  and  to  press  the  great  principles  of  the 
gospel  upon  the  minds  of  the  converts,  till  they  be  thorough- 
ly settled  and  grounded  in  the  foundation  of  their  hope  to- 
wards God.  We  must  be  willing  to  spend  some  time  witli 
them  daily,  if  possible,  in  this  work.  We  must  have  much 
patience  with  them,  tliough  they  may  grow  very  slowly  iii 
divine  knowledge. 

Wc  ought  also  to  endeavour,  as  much  as  possible,  to  form 
them  to  habits  of  industry,  and  assist  them  in  procuring  such 
employments  as  may  be  pursued  with  the  least  danger  of 
temptations  to  evil.  Here,  too,  we  shall  have  occasion  to 
exercise  much  tenderness  and  forbearance,  knowing  that  in- 
dustrious habits  are  formed  with  difficulty  by  all  Heathen 
nations.  We  ought  also  to  remember,  that  these  persons  have 


208  Propagation  of  Christianity 

made  no  common  sacrifices,  in  renouncing  their  connections, 
their  homes,  their  former  situations  and  means  of  support, 
and  that  it  will  be  very  difficult  for  them  to  procure  employ- 
ment with  Heathen  masters.  In  these  circumstances,  if  we 
do  not  sympathise  with  them  in  their  temporal  losses  for 
Christ,  we  shall  be  guilty  of  great  cruelty, 

As  we  consider  it  our  duty  to  honour  the  civil  magistrate, 
and  in  every  state  and  country  to  render  him  the  readiest 
obedience,  whether  we  be  persecuted  or  protected,  it  be- 
comes us  to  instruct  our  native  brethren  in  the  same  princi- 
ples. A  sense  of  gratitude,  too,  presses  this  obligation  upon 
us  in  a  peculiar  manner,  in  return  for  the  liberal  protection 
v/e  have  experienced.  It  is  equally  our  wisdom,  and  our 
duty  also,  to  shew  to  the  civil  power,  that  it  has  nothing  to 
fear  from  the  progress  of  missions,  since  a  real  follower  of 
Christ  must  resist  the  example  of  his  great  Master,  and  all 
the  precepts  the  Bible  contains  on  this  subject,  before  he  can 
become  disloyal.  Converted  Heathens,  being  brought  over 
to  the  religion  of  their  Christian  governors,  if  duly  instructed, 
are  much  more  likely  to  love  them,  and  be  united  to  them, 
than  subjects  of  a  different  religion. 

To  bear  the  faults  of  our  native  brethren,  so  as  to  reprove 
them  with  tenderness,  and  set  them  right  in  the  necessity  of 
a  holy  conversation,  is  a  very  necessary  duty.  We  should 
remember  the  gross  darkness  in  which  they  were  so  lately 
involved,  having  never  had  any  just  and  adequate  ideas  of 
the  evil  of  sin,  or  its  consecjuences.  We  should  also  recol- 
lect, how  backward  human  nature  is  in  forming  spiritual 
ideas,  and  entering  upon  a  holy  self-denying  conversation. 
We  ought,  not  therefore,  even  after  many  falls,  to  give  up  and 
cast  away  a  relapsed  convert,  while  he  manifests  the  least  in- 
clination to  be  washed  from  his  filthiness. 

In  walking  before  native  converts,  much  care  and  circum- 
spection are  absolutely  necessary.  The  falls  of  Christians  in 
Europe  have  not  such  a  fatal  tendency  as  they  must  have  in 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  2Q9 

this  country,  because  there  the  word  of  God  always  com» 
mands  more  attention  than  the  conduct  of  the  most  exalted 
Christian.  But  here  those  around  us,  in  consequence  of 
tlieir  little  knoM'Iedge  of  tlie  Scriptures,  must  necessarily 
take  our  conduct  as  a  specimen  of  what  Christ  looks  for  in 
his  disciples.  They  know  the  Saviour  and  his  doctrine 
-chiefly  as  they  shine  forth  in  us. 

In  conversing  with  the  wives  of  native  converts,  and  lead- 
ing them  on  in  the  ways  of  Christ,  so  tliat  they  may  be  an 
ornament  to  the  Christian  cause,  and  make  known  the  gospel 
to  the  native  women,  we  hope  always  to  have  the  assistance 
of  the  females  who  have  embarked  with  us  in  the  mission. 
We  sec,  that  in  primitive  times  the  apostles  were  very  much 
assisted  in  their  great  work  by  several  pious  females.     The 
great  value  of  female  help  may  easily  be  appreciated,  if  we 
consider  how  much  the  Asiatic  women  are  shut  up  from  the 
men;  and  especially  from  men  of  another  cast.  It  behoves 
us,  therefore,  to  aflbrd  to  our  European  sisters  all  possible 
assistance  in  acquiring  the  language,  that  they  may,  in  every 
way  which  Providence  may  open  to  them,  become  instru- 
mental in  promoting  the  salvation  of  the  millions  of  native 
women,  who  are  in  a  great  measure  excluded  from  all  oppor- 
tunities of  hearing  the  word  from  the  mouths  of  European 
missionaries.  A  European  sister  may  do  much  for  the  cause 
in  this  respect,  by  promoting  the  holiness,  and  stirring  up 
the  zeal,  of  the  female  native  converts. 

A  real  missionary  becomes,  in  a  sense,  a  father  to  his  peo- 
ple. If  he  feel  all  the  anxiety  and  tender  solicitude  of  a 
lather — all  that  delight  in  their  welfare  and  company,  that  a 
father  docs  in  the  midst  of  his  children — they  will  feel  all  that 
freedom  with  and  confidence  in  him  which  he  can  desire. 
He  will  be  w  holly  unable  to  lead  them  on  in  a  regular  and 
happy  manner,  unless  they  can  be  induced  to  open  thei 
minds  to  him,  unless  a  sincere  and  mutual  esteem  subsist 
.on  both  sides. 

VIII.  Another  part  of  our  work  is,  the  forming  our  pativ 

vol..    IT.  2  D 


210  Propagation  of  Clirist'ianlty 

brethren  to  usefulness,  fostering  every  kind  of  genius,  and 
cherishing  every  gift  and  grace  in  them.  In  this  respect  we 
can  scarcely  be  too  lavish  of  our  attention  of  their  improve- 
ment. It  is  only  by  means  of  native  preachers  that  we  can 
hope  for  the  universal  spread  of  the  gospel  throughout  this 
immense  continent.  Europeans  are  too  few,  and  their  sub- 
sistence costs  too  much,  for  us  ever  to  hope  that  they  can 
possibly  be  the  instruments  of  the  universal  diffusion  of  the 
word  amongst  so  many  millions  of  souls,  spread  over  such 
a  large  portion  of  the  habitable  globe.  The  incapability  of 
bearing  the  intense  heat  of  the  climate  in  perpetual  itineran- 
cies, the  heavy  expenses  of  their  journies,  not  to  say  any 
thing  of  the  prejudices  of  the  natives  against  the  very  pre- 
sence of  Europeans,  and  the  great  difficulty  of  becoming 
fluent  in  their  languages,  render  it  absolute  duty  to  cherish 
native  gifts,  and  to  send  forth  as  many  native  preachers  as 
possible.  If  the  practice  of  confining  the  ministry  of  the 
word  to  a  single  individual  in  a  church  be  once  established 
amongst  us,  we  despair  of  the  gospel's  ever  making  much 
])rogress  in  India  by  our  means.  Let  us,  therefore,  use 
every  gift,  and  continually  urge  on  our  native  brethren  to 
press  upon  their  countrymen  the  glorious  gospel  of  the 
blessed  God. 

Still  farther  to  strengthen  the  cause  of  Christ  in  this  coun- 
try, and  as  far  as  in  our  power  to  give  it  a  permanent  estab- 
lishment, even  when  the  efforts  of  Europeans  may  fail,  we 
think  it  our  duty,  as  soon  as  possible,  to  advise  the  native 
brethren  who  may  be  formed  into  separate  churches,  to 
choose  their  pastors  and  deacons  from  amongst  their  own 
countrymen,  that  the  word  may  be  statedly  preached,  and 
the  ordinances  of  Christ  administered  in  each  church  by  the 
native  minister,  as  much  as  possible,  without  the  interfer- 
ence of  the  missionary  of  the  district,  who  will  constantly 
superintend  their  affairs,  give  them  advice  in  cases  of  order 
and  discipline,  and  correct  any  errors  into  which  they  may 
fall;  and  who,  joying  and  beholding  their  order,  and  the 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  211 

bteiidfastness  of  their  fiiith  in  Christ,  may  meet  liis  efforts 
continually  to  the  planting  of  new  churches  in  otlier  places, 
and  to  the  spread  of  the  gospel  in  his  district  to  the  utmost 
of  his  power.  By  this  means  the  imity  of  the  missionary 
character  will  be  preserved,  all  the  missionaries  will  still 
form  one  body,  each  one  moveable  as  the  good  of  the  cause 
may  require.  The  different  native  churches  will  also  natu- 
rally learn  to  care  and  provide  for  their  ministers,  for  their 
church  expenses,  the  raising  places  of  worship,  &c.;  and 
the  whole  administration  will  assume  a  native  aspect;  by 
which  means  the  inhabitants  will  more  readily  identify  the 
cause  as  belonging  to  their  own  nation,  and  their  prejudices 
at  falling  into  tlie  hands  of  Europeans  will  entirely  vanish. 
It  may  be  hoped,  too,  that  the  pastors  of  these  churches, 
and  the  members  in  general,  will  feel  a  new  energy  in  attempt- 
ing to  spread  the  gospel,  when  they  shall  thus  freely  enjoy 
its  privileges  among  themselves. 

Under  the  divine  blessing,  if,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years, 
a  niuiiber  of  native  churches  be  thus  established,  from  them 
the  word  of  God  may  sound  out  even  to  the  extremities 
of  India;  and  numbers  of  preachers  being  raised  up  and 
sent  forth,  may  form  a  body  of  native  missionaries,  inured 
to  the  climate,  acquainted  with  the  customs,  language, 
modes  of  speech,  and  reasoning  of  the  inhabitants;  able  to 
become  perfectly  familiar  with  them,  to  enter  their  houses, 
to  live  upon  their  food,  to  sleep  with  them,  or  under  a  tree; 
and  who  may  travel  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other 
almost  without  any  expense.  These  churches  will  be  in  no 
immediate  danger  of  falling  into  errors  or  disorders,  because 
the  whole  of  their  affairs  will  be  constantly  superintended  by 
a  European  missionary.  The  advantages  of  this  plan  arc  so 
evident,  that  to  carry  it  into  complete  effect  ought  to  be  our 
continued  concern.  That  we  may  discharge  the  important 
obligations  of  watching  over  these  infant  churches,  when 
formed,  and  of  urging  them  to  maintain  a  steady  discipline — 
to  hold  forth  the  {;lcur  and  cheering  light  of  evangelical  truth 


^12  Propagation  of  Christianity 

in  this  region  and  shadow  of  death — and  to  walk  in  all  res- 
pects as  those  who  have  been  called  out  of  darkness  into 
marvellous  light,  we  should  go  continually  to  the  Source 
<pf  all  grace  and  strength;  for  if,  to  become  the  shepherd  of 
one  church  be  a  most  solemn  and  weighty  charge,  what 
must  it  be  to  watch  over  a  number  of  churches  just  raised 
from  a  state  of  Heathenism,  and  placed  at  a  distance  from 
each  other? 

We  have  thought  It  our  duty  not  to  change  the  names  of 
native  converts,  observing  from  scripture  that  the  apostles 
did  not  change  those  of  the  first  Christians  turned  from  Hea- 
thenism, as  the  names  Epaphroditus,  Phebe,  Fortunatus,  Syl- 
vanus,Apollos,  Hermes,  Junia,  Narcissus,  &:c.  prove.  Almost 
all  these  names  are  derived  from  those  of  Heathen  gods.  AVe 
think  the  great  object  which  divine  Providence  has  in  view, 
in  causing  the  gospel  to  be  promulgated  in  the  world,  is 
not  the  changing  of  the  names,  the  dress,  the  food,  and  the 
innocent  usages  of  mankind,  but  to  produce  a  moral  and  di- 
vine change  in  the  hearts  and  conduct  of  men.  It  would 
not  be  right  to  perpetuate  the  names  of  Heathen  gods 
amongst  Christians;  neither  is  it  necessary,  or  prudent,  to 
give  a  new  name  to  every  man  after  his  conversion,  as  hereby 
the  economy  of  families,  neighbourhoods,  8ic.  would  be  need- 
lessly disturbed.  In  other  respects,  we  think  it  our  duty  to 
lead  our  brethien  by  example,  by  mild  persuasion,  and  by 
opening  and  illuminating  their  minds  in  a  gradual  way,  rather 
than  use  authoritative  means.  By  this  they  learn  to  see  the 
evil  of  a  custom,  and  then  to  despise  and  forsake  it;  whereas^ 
in  cases  in  which  force  is  used,  though  they  may  leave  off 
that  which  is  wrong  while  in  our  presence,  yet,  not  having 
seen  the  evil  of  it,  they  are  in  danger  of  using  hypocrisy,  and 
of  doing  that  out  of  our  presence  which  they  dare  not  do  in  it. 

IX.  It  becomes  us,  too,  to  labour  with  all  our  might  in 
forwarding  translations  of  the  sacred  scriptures  in  the  lan- 
guages of  Hindostan.  The  help  which  God  has  aflforded  us 
already  in  thi;s  work,  is  a  loud  call  to  us  to  go  forward.     Sq 


hy  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  213 

far,  therefore,  as  God  has  qualified  us  to  learn  those  langua- 
ges which  are  necessary,  we  consider  it  our  bounden  duty 
to  apply  with  unwearied  assiduity  in  acquiring  them.  Wc 
consider  the  publication  of  the  divine  word  throughout  In- 
dia, as  an  object  which  we  ought  never  to  give  up  till  accom- 
plished, looking  to  the  Fountain  of  all  knowledge  afid 
strength,  to  qualify  us  for  this  great  work,  and  to  carry  us 
through  it,  to  the  praise  of  his  holy  name. 

It  becomes  us  to  use  all  assiduity  in  explaining  and  dis- 
tributing the  divine  Word  on  all  occasions,  and  by  every 
means  in  our  power  to  excite  the  attention  and  reverence  of 
the  natives  towards  it,  as  the  foundation  of  eternal  truth,  and 
the  message  of  salvation  to  men.  It  is  our  duty  also  to  dis- 
tribute, as  extensively  as  possible,  the  different  religious 
tracts  which  are  published.  Considering  how  much  the  ge- 
neral diffusion  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  depends  upon  a 
liberal  and  constant  distribution  of  the  word,  and  of  these 
tracts,  all  over  the  country,  we  should  keep  this  continually 
in  mind,  and  watch  all  opportunities  of  putting  even  single 
tracts  into  the  hands  of  those  persons  with  whom  we  occa- 
sionally meet.  We  should  endeavour  to  ascertain  where 
large  assemblies  of  tlie  natives  are  to  be  found,  that  we  may 
attend  upon  them,  and  gladden  whole  villages  at  once  with 
the  tidings  of  salvation. 

The  establishment  of  native  free  schools  is  also  an  object 
highly  important  to  the  future  conquests  of  the  gospel.  Of 
this  very  pleasing  and  interesting  part  of  our  missionary 
labours  we  should  endeavour  not  to  be  unmindful.  As  op- 
portunities are  afforded,  it  becomes  us  to  establish,  visit,  and 
encourage  these  institutions,  and  to  recommend  the  establish- 
ment of  them  to  other  Europeans.  The  progress  of  divine 
light  is  gradual,  both  as  it  respects  individuals  and  nations. 
Whatever,  therefore,  tends  to  increase  the  body  of  holy 
light  in  these  dark  regions,  is  "  as  bread  cast  upon  the  wa- 
ters, to  be  seen  after  many  days."  In  many  ways  the  pro- 
gress of  providential  events  is  preparing  the  Hindoos  for 


214  Propagation  of  Christianity 

casting  their  idols  to  the  moles  and  the  bats,  and  for  becom- 
ing a  part  of  the  chosen  generation,  the  royal  priesthood,  the 
holy  nation.  Some  parts  of  missionary  labours  very  properly 
tend  to  the  present  conversion  of  the  Heathen,  and  others  to 
the  ushering  in  the  glorious  period,  "  when  a  nation  shall  be 
b/llrn  at  once."    Of  the  latter  kind  are  native  free  schools. 

X.  That  which,  as  a  means,  is  to  lit  us  for  the  discharge 
of  these  laborious  and  unutterably  important  labours,  is  the 
being  instant  in  prayer,  and  the  cultivation  of  personal  reli- 
gion. Let  us  ever  have  in  remembrance  the  examples  of 
those  who  have  been  most  eminent  in  the  work  of  God.  Let 
us  often  look  at  Brainerd  in  the  woods  of  America,  pour- 
ing out  his  very  soul  before  God  for  the  perishing  Heathen, 
without  whose  salvation  nothing  could  make  him  happy. 
Prayer,  secret,  fervent,  believing  prayer,  lies  at  the  root  of 
all  personal  godliness.  A  competent  knowledge  of  the  lan- 
guages current  where  a  missionary  lives,  a  mild  and  winning 
temper,  and  a  heart  given  up  to  God  in  closet  religion; 
these  are  the  attainments  which,  more  than  all  knowlede-e 
or  all  other  gifts,  will  fit  us  to  become  the  instruments  of 
God  in  the  great  work  of  human  redemption.  Let  us,  then, 
ever  be  united  in  prayer  at  stated  seasons,  whatever  distance 
may  separate  us;  and  let  each  one  of  us  lay  it  upon  his  heart, 
that  we  will  seek  to  be  fervent  in  spirit,  wrestling  with  God, 
till  he  famish  these  idols,  and  cause  the  Heathen  to  experi- 
ence  the  blessedness  that  is  in  Christ. 

Finally,  Let  us  give  ourselves  up  unreservedly  to  this  glo- 
rious cause.  Let  us  never  think  that  our  time,  our  gifts,  our 
strength,  our  families,  are  our  own.  Let  us  sanctify  them 
all  to  God  and  his  cause.  Oh!  that  he  may  sanctify  us  for 
his  work.  Let  us  forever  shut  out  the  idea  of  laying  up  a 
cowry  for  ourselves  or  our  children.  If  we  give  up  the  re- 
solution  which  was  formed  on  the  subject  of  private  trade 
when  we  first  united  at  Serampore,  the  mission  is  from  that 
liour  a  lost  cause.  A  worldly  spirit,  quarrels,  and  every  evil 
work  v/ill  succeed,  the  moment  it  is  admitted  that  each  bro- 


hy  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  215 

ther  may  do  something  on  his  own  account.  Woe  to  that 
man  who  shall  ever  make  the  smallest  movement  toward 
such  a  measure!  Let  us  continually  watch  against  a  worldly 
spirit,  and  cultivate  a  Christian  indifference  towards  every 
indulgence.  Rather  let  us  bear  hardness  as  good  soldiers 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  endeavour  to  learn  in  every  state  to  be 
content. 

If  in  this  way  we  are  enabled  to  glorify  God  with  our  bo- 
dies and  spirits,  which  are  his,  our  wants  will  be  his  care. 
No  private  family  ever  enjoyed  a  greater  portion  of  happi- 
ness, even  in  the  most  prosperous  gale  of  worldly  prosperi- 
ty, than  we  have  done  since  we  resolved  to  have  all  things 
in  common,  and  that  no  one  should  pursue  business  for  his 
own  exclusive  advantage.  If  we  are  enabled  to  persevere  in 
the  same  principle,  we  may  hope,  that  multitudes  of  con- 
verted souls  will  have  reason  to  bless  God  to  all  eternity  for 
sending  his  gospel  into  this  country."* 

Such  were  the  Form  of  Agreement  into  which  the  mis- 
sionaries entered  with  regard  to  the  conduct  of  their  laboiu"s 
among  the  Heathen.  With  respect  to  the  last  circumstance 
to  which  they  advert,  their  resolution  on  the  subject  of  pri- 
vate trade,  we  may  add,  as  a  proof  of  its  importance,  as  well 
as  of  their  disinterestedness,  that,  during  the  first  five  years 
of  their  residence  at  Serampore,  their  whole  expenditure  was 
not  less  than  13,000/.;  but  of  that  sum  they  received  from 
England,  in  money,  goods,  &c.  no  more  than  5740/. :  17 :  7  ; 
and  even  this  was  not  sunk,  being  vested  in  the  premises 
belonging  to  the  mission.  Upwards  of  7000/.  must,  there- 
fore, have  been  obtained  in  India;  and  most  of  this,  we  be- 
lieve, was  raised  by  the  labours  of  the  missionaries  them- 
selves. Large,  however,  as  this  sum  must  appear,  it  is  small 
in  comparison  of  what  they  have  contributed  since  that  pe- 
riod. Of  late,  we  are  informed,  they  have  added  at  the  rate 
of  at  least  3000/.  a  year  to  the  fund  for  missionary  purposes, 

»  Period.  Accounts,  vo\.  iii.  p.  198—211. 


2 16  Propagation  of  Christianity 

entirely  the  fruit  of  their  own  exertions.  The  profits  of  the 
printing  press,  under  the  superintendence  of  Mr.  Ward,  the 
produce  of  a  boarding  school  for  the  children  of  European 
gentlemen,  kept  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Marshman,  and  the  salary 
of  Dr.  Carey,  as  professor  in  the  college  of  fort  William, 
are  the  principal  sources  from  which  these  large  sums  are 
drawn.  It  is  also  proper  to  add,  that  Mr.  Fernandez,  be- 
sides other  valuable  gifs,  has  appropriated  10,000  rupees  to 
the  mission,  and  wished  the  missionaries  to  accept  of  this 
sum  immediately;  but  this  they  declined,  and  agreed  to  take 
for  the  present  only  the  interest  of  it,  allowing  the  capital 
-still  to  remain  in  his  own  hands.* 

The  number  of  the  natives  who  came  to  Serampore,  in- 
quiring  concerning  the  gospel,  had  now  greatly  increased. 
In  the  course  of  this  year,  about  thirty  of  them  were  received 
into  the  church,  besides  several  Europeans,  and  of  these  no 
fewer  than  ten  were  baptized  in  one  day.  Seven  or  eight  of 
them  appeared  to  have  been  chiefly  impressed  by  the  reading 
of  a  New  Testament  and  some  small  tracts,  left  in  their  vil- 
lage about  four  years  before,  though  till  lately  they  were 
unknown  to  the  missionaries;  a  circumstance  which  affords 
ground  to  hope,  that  some  may  be  converted,  by  these  or 
other  means,  who  may  never  be  heard  of  till  they  are  seen 
before  the  throne,  in  heaven.  Among  these  villagers  was  a 
man  of  the  name  of  Juggernaut,  who  had  formely  been  a 
byragee,  and  lived  entirely  on  the  gains  of  his  imaginary 
holiness.  He  had  once  visited  the  celebrated  temple  of 
Juggernaut,  in  Orissa,  the  grand  resort  of  pilgrims,  from  all 
quarters  of  Hindostan.  The  lord  of  the  district,  by  way  of 
respect,  clasped  him  round  the  neck,  and  seated  him  by  his 
side  in  the  public  assembly.  He  also  offered  him  land,  if  he 
would  take  up  his  residence  there;  but  Juggernaut  replied, 
that  without  Gonga  water,  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  live. 
Yet  to  the  heart  of  this  devotee  of  Gonga,  the  gospel  appear- 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iii.  p,  24,  228- 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  217 

ed  now  to  have  made  its  way.  Just  at  the  time  Mr.  Ward 
was  distributing  tracts  and  talking  in  the  village,  he  was 
about  to  set  off  on  a  new  pilgrimage  to  Juggernaut's  pagoda; 
but  the  boat  happening  to  go  without  him,  he  obtained  two 
or  three  of  the  papers,  and  b}'  some  means  he  afterwards  got 
the  New  Testament,  which  was  left  for  the  use  of  the  village, 
and  which,  at  length,  was  nearly  worn  out  by  reading.  He 
now  hung  up  his  god,  on  a  tree  by  the  side  of  his  house, 
destroyed  his  Juggernaut's  chariot,  and  threw  his  byragee 
books  into  the  river.  It  is  even  said,  that  being  short  of 
fuel,  one  day  soon  after  his  baptism,  he,  by  the  advice  of 
his  wife,  took  down  the  image  from  the  tree,  and  having 
cleaved  it  in  two,  dressed  his  dinner  with  the  one  half  of  it.* 
In  March  1806,  the  missionaries  issued  proposals  for  pub- 
lishing the  Holy  Scriptures,  in  no  fewer  than  fifteen  of  the 
Oriental  languages,  namel}-,  the  Sungskrit,  the  Bengalee, 
the  Hindostanee,  the  Persic,  the  Mahratta,  the  Guzurattee, 
the  Orissa,  the  Kurnata,  the  Telinga,  the  Burman,  the  As- 
sam, the  Bootan,  the  Tibet,  the  Malay  and  the  Chinese. 
Three  or  four  years  before,  they  had  begun  to  translate  them 
into  the  Hindostanee  and  the  Persic,  intending  to  say  nothing 
of  their  design,  until  the  New  Testament  at  least  should  be 
completed.  Having  met,  however,  with  unexpected  suc- 
cess in  this  undertaking,  they  extended  the  plan;  and  it  was 
not  long  before  they  formed  the  magnificent  idea  of  trans- 
lating and  printii^g  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  the  principal  Ian- 
guages  of  the  East.  Such  a  mighty  undertaking  attended 
with  so  many  difficulties,  and  requiring  such  immense  la- 
bour, would  effectually  have  irightened  persons  of  ordinary 
minds;  but  they  were  not  men  who  were  to  be  deterred  by 
circumstances  of  that  description;  and  there  were  even  va- 
rious considerations,  which  encouraged  them  to  entertain 
sanguine  hopes  of  final  success.  They  possessed  a  critical 
knowledge  of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  originals;   they  hadj 

•  Periodical  Accounts,  vol.  ili.  p.  325,  186,  192,  117,  181 
VOL.  ir.  2  E 


218  Propagation  of  Christianity 

perhaps,  one  of  the  best  libraries  of  critical  works,  on  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  and  of  the  ancient  and  modern  versions  of 
them,  that  were  to  be  found  in  the  Eastern  world.  They  had 
been  employed  for  a  considerable  time,  in  the  work  of  trans- 
lating, and  had,  in  some  degree,  formed  those  habits  which 
were  requisite  for  that  kind  of  labour.  They  were  in  a  situ- 
ation where  they  could  obtain  the  assistance  of  learned  na- 
lives,  from  most  of  the  different  countries,  whom  the  college 
of  fort  William  had  collected  to  that  grand  emporium  of 
Oriental  literature.  Besides,  as  they  advanced  with  the  work, 
they  found  it  was  rendered  comparatively  easy,  by  the  close 
relation  which  subsisted  between  most  of  the  Oriental  lan- 
guages. The  Sungskrit  is  the  parent  of  the  Bengalee,  the 
Mahratta,  the  Orissa,  the  Telinga,  the  Kurnata,  the  Guzu- 
rattee,  and  also  of  the  Malabar  or  Tamul;  and  hence  a  know- 
ledge of  it,  enables  a  man  to  acquire  any  of  these,  with  the 
greatest  facility,  especially  after  he  has  learned  one  or  two 
of  them.  It  will  generally,  indeed,  furnish  him  with  the 
meaning  of  four  words  in  five  of  the  languages  derived  from 
it;  and  the  grammar  of  one,  gives  him  a  general  idea  of  the 
idiom  of  the  others.  The  Orissa,  for  instance,  though  pos- 
sessing a  distinct  grammar  and  character,  is  so  like  the  Ben- 
galee, both  in  the  words  and  the  construction,  that  a  Ben- 
galee pundit  is  almost  qualified  to  correct  an  Orissa  proof 
sheet.  The  first  time  that  Mr.  Marsh  man  read  a  page  of 
Guzurattee,  the  meaning  of  it  was  so  obvious,  that  he  had 
no  occasion  to  ask  his  teacher  any  questions  respecting  it. 
The  following  Table  will  exhibit  a  more  particular  view  of 
the  proportion  of  words  known  to  the  missionaries,  in  seve- 
ral of  these  languages,  in  consequence  of  their  previous  ac- 
quaintance with  Sungskrit  and  Bengalee: 

Mahratta,  ----      7\i      4.    •  i-* 

^  .  '  S-  x-^bout  nme  words  m  ten. 

Orissa,       .     .     -     -      ^ 

Guzurattee,     -     -     -         About  six  words  in  seven. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  219 

rehnga,      .     .     .     -      1  About  three  words  in  four.* 
Kurnata,     .     -     -     .      ^ 

Three  of  these  versions,  the  Bengalee,   the  Hindostanee, 
and  the  Sungskrit,   Dr.  Carey  Avrote   with  his  own  hand. 
Most  of  the  others  were  made,  in  the  first  instance,  by  learn- 
ed natives,  and  Brahmins,  Mussulmen,  and  others,  who  be- 
sides translating,  were  employed  to  write  out  the  rough  co- 
pies.    In  this  work,   they  were  materially  assisted,  by  Dr. 
Carey's  translation  into  Sungskrit,  which  rendered  versions 
into  the  other  Oriental  languages  comparatively  easy,  and  en- 
sured, in  some  degree,  their  correctness,  as  every  pundit  un- 
derstands the   Sungskrit,    and  can  readily  make  from  it  a 
good  translation  into  his  own  vernacular  tongue.  But  though 
the  missionaries  employed  learned  natives,   in  making   most 
of  the  versions,  in  the  first  instance,  they  themselves  also  ac- 
quired the  languages,  and  obtained,  in  some  measure,  a  cri- 
tical acquaintance  with  them,   in  order   that  they  might  be 
able  to  revise  and  correct  them.     In  no  instance,   did  they 
ever  proceed  to   print  any  translation,  until  every  word,  and 
every  mode  of  construction,  had  been  carefully  examined  by 
themselves,  and  the  whole  compared  with  the  Greek  and 
Hebrew  originals. ft 

Of  the  translation  into  the  Chinese  language,  it  may  not 
be  uninteresting  to  take  some  more  particular  notice,  on  ac- 
count of  the  peculiar  magnitude  and  importance  of  the  un- 
dertaking.    Dr.  Carey  had  scarcely  arrived  in  India,   when 

•  Missionary  Magazine,  vol.  ix.  p.  380.  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  456,  536;  vol- 
ill.  p.  327.  Mcn-.oir  i-eLitive  to  the  Translations  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  addressed 
to  the  Bivptist  Mlsslunai-y  Society,  p.  8. 

■|-  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  Hi.  p.  491;  vol.  iv.  p.  5\7. 

\  Some  slig-lit  alterations  appear  to  have  been  afterwards  made  on 
this  plan.  Dr.  Carey,  for  instance,  instead  of  writing  the  Siuigskrit 
translation  with  his  own  hand,  dictated  it  to  an  amanuensis,  and  the 
rough  copy  of  the  Hindostanee  was  written  by  one  of  the  pundits.  It 
also  appears,  that  the  revisal  of  the  translation,  by  the  missionaries,  was 
chiefly  performed  as  the  sheets  went  through  the  press.  Period,  jic- 
counts^  vol.  iv.  p.  518. 


220  Propagation  of  Christianity 

he  turned  his  attention  to  the  vast  empire  of  China,  which 
is  said  to  contain  no  fewer  than  three  himdred  and  thirty- 
three  miUions  of  inhabitans,  exclusive  of  Tartary  and  the 
tributary  provinces.  Even  at  that  early  period,  he  resolved 
to  devote  his  third  son  to  the  study  of  the  Chinese  language, 
but  as  the  youth  died  soon  after,  this  plan  was,  of  course, 
frustrated.*  Now,  however,  the  missionaries  at  Seram- 
pore  had  obtained,  in  the  person  of  Mr.  John  Lassar,  a  man 
who  was  qualified  in  no  ordinary  degree  to  assist  them  in 
acquiring  the  Chinese  lans^uage,  and  to  help  th.em  in  trans- 
lating into  it  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Having  been  born  at 
Macao,  of  Armenian  parents,  he  had  imbibed  the  colloquial 
dialect  of  China,  from  his  earliest  years;  but  as  he  had  a  pe- 
culiar turn  for  the  language,  he  was  eager  to  obtain  a  more 
perfect  acquaintance  with  it,  and  accordingly,  at  an  age  the 
best  adapted  for  improvement,  he  was  sent  to  Canton,  where 
he  enjoyed  the  liberty  of  mixing  freely  with  the  inhabitants, 
a  privilege  from  which  foreigners,  confined  to  the  precincts 
of  their  own  factories,  are  completely  excluded.  Here  he 
was  placed  under  the  tuition  of  two  masters,  one  for  the 
vulgar  Chinese,  the  other  for  the  Mandarine  dialect.  His 
first  teacher  was  a  man  of  learning,  but  a  true  Chinese,  com- 
pelling him  to  commit  to  memory  a  vast  number  of  charac- 
ters, and  leaving  him  to  divine  the  meaning  of  them.  The 
second  w\ns  quite  of  a  different  stamp;  an  enthusiast  in  learn- 
ing himself,  he  delighted  to  impart  it  to  his  ardent  pupil, 
who,  by  having  committed  to  memory  so  great  a  number  of 
characters,  was  happily  prepared  to  make  rapid  and  exten- 
sive progress.  Such,  indeed,  was  young  Lassar's  thirst  for 
knowledge,  that  he  did  not  confine  himself  to  the  usual  hours 
cf  study,  but  devoted  part  of  the  night  to  the  pleasing  pur- 
suit. Under  the  tuition  of  this  teacher,  he  finished  nearly 
forty  volumes,  committing  a  great  part  of  them  to  memory, 
in  the  Chinese  manner;  after  which  he  was  able  to  pursue 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  i.  p.  60,  119. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  221 

his  studies  alone,  being  now  fully  able  to  avail  himself  of 
those  excellent  dictionaries  which  have  been  formed  of  that 
language.* 

About  the  age  of  twenty-three,  he  turned  his  attention  to 
mercantile  pursuits,  and  came  to  Bengal  ^vith  a  large  cargo 
of  teas;  but  providence  designing  him  lor  other  employment, 
frowned  on  this  his  first  attempt.     The  quantity  of  tea  im- 
ported into  Calcutta  was  so  great  that  season,  as  to  occasion 
a  fall  in  the  price,  which  created   such  a  loss  to  our  young 
merchant,  that  he  was  not  only  discouraged,  but  embarrass- 
ed in  his  circumstances.     This,  however,  was  the  means  of 
introducing  him  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Buchanan,  one  of  the  chap- 
lains of  the  East  India  Company,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brown, 
who  had  for  some  time  past  been  anxious  to  promote  a  trans- 
lation  of  the   sacred   writings   into   the   Chinese  language. 
Having  engaged  him  for  this   purpose,   they   proposed  that 
he  should  reside  at  Serampore,  on  condition  that  one  of  the 
missionaries,  and  at  least  three  of  the  youths,  should  engage 
in  the  study  of  the  Chinese  language.     This  offer  was  ac- 
cordingly accepted  by  Mr.  Marshman;   and  he  was  joined 
in  the  pursuit  by  two  of  his  own  children,  and  a  son  of  Dr. 
Carey 's.f 

In  this  young  man,  Mr.  Marshman  and  his  fellow  pupils 
enjoyed  a  most  able  and  assiduous  tutor.  His  vigorous 
natural  powers,  his  eminence  as  a  Chinese  scholar,  his  un- 
wearied  diligence,  his  decision  of  character,  all  united  to 
place  him  far  above  the  ordinary  rank  of  Oriental  tutors. 
."  When  I  have  seen  him,"  says  Mr.  Marshman,  "  sit  nearly 
three  hours  at  once,  calling  over,  perhaps,  for  thirty  days 
successively,  the  same  words  and  phrases,  and  noticing,  with 
the  utmost  nicety,  and  no  small  severity,  variations  in  the 
sound,  which  I  was  not  capable  of  observing,  I  have  been 
surprised,  and  have  said  to  myself,  What  can  induce  this 
man  to  persist  in  a  course  of  labour,  from  which  I  mvself 

•  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iii.  p.  461. 

\  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iii.  p.  462.     Bucluinan's  Ciiristian  Researches,  p,  10. 


222  Propagation  of  Christianity 

shrink  back,  who  have  been  for  so  many  years  engaged  in 
the  work  of  teaching,  and  am  urged  to  faithfulness  and  dili- 
gence by  the  voice  of  conscience,  and  the  desire  of  pro- 
moting the  cause  of  Christ?  If  he  were  to  save  himself  this 
trouble  who  would  know  it?  Who  could  detect  his  unfaith- 
fulness? What  a  contrast  do  this  man's  diligence  and  de- 
cision form  to  the  sloth  and  flexibility  of  every  other  Asiatic 
teacher  I  have  yet  been  under?"* 

Besides  this  able  teacher  they  possessed,  even  at  an  early 
period  of  their  progress,  a  very  valuable  collection  of  Chi- 
nese books,  to  the  amount  of  nearly  three  hundred  volumes, 
including,  among  others,  two  editions  of  the  works  of  Con- 
fucius, one  containing  the  simple  text,  the  other  the  text, 
with  addition  of  a  commentary.  But  a  more  valuable  acqui- 
sition still,  were  three  different  Chinese  dictionaries:  one  in 
four  duodecimo  volumes,  said  to  be  in  most  general  use 
throughout  that  empire;  a  second,  in  fourteen  volumes;  and 
a  third,  the  Imperial  Dictionary,  in  thirty-two  volumes,  com- 
piled by  command  of  the  celebrated  emperor  Kanghi.  This 
is  reckoned  the  standard  dictionary  in  China,  and  is  said  to 
contain  every  Chinese  character,  both  ancient  and  modern.f 
To  this  library,  it  is  probable,  the  missionaries  will  have 
made  considerable  additions  since  that  period. 

With  such  valuable  helps,  Mr.  Marshman  and  his  fellow 
pupils  made  rapid  and  unexpected  progress  in  Chinese  lite- 
rature. In  studying  the  language,  they  found  not  those 
numerous,  and  almost  insuperable  difficulties,  which  were 
generally  supposed  to  attend  it.  Mr.  Marshman  has  even 
discovered,  or  at  least  illustrated  in  a  clearer  manner  than 
any  preceding  writer,  the  existence  of  a  species  of  alphabet 
in  the  Chinese  language,  which  materially  facilitates  the  ac- 
quisition of  it.  Indeed  he  states  it  as  his  firm  conviction, 
that  thousrh  to  tall  v  different  in  its  structure,  it  is  little  less 

•  Period.   Accounts,  vol.  iii.  p.  463. 

I  Memoir  relative  to  the  Translations,  p.  14, 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  223 

regular  in  its  formation,  and  scajrcely  more  difficult  of  acqui- 
sition, than  the  Sungskrit,  the  Greek,  or  even  the  Latin  lan- 
guage. 

In  the  meanwhile,  Mr,  Lassar  began  the  translation  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  into  the  Chinese  language,  and  as  he  was  an 
Armenian  Christian;  he  translated  from  the  version  of  that 
church.  Part  of  this  work  was  printed  off;  but  it  seems  to 
have  been  intended  rather  as  a  class-book  for  the  use  of  Eng- 
lish students  in  the  Chinese  language,  than  for  the  use  of 
the  inhabitants  of  that  empire;  for  each  verse  was  printed  in 
English  in  columns  of  one  or  two  lines,  from  the  top  to  the 
bottom  of  the  page,  and  the  Chinese  was  printed,  in  the  usu- 
al manner,  in  corresponding  columns.*  This  version,  how- 
ever, so  far  as  it  proceeded,  was  afterwards  revised;  a  new 
edition  of  the  whole  was  begun,  we  suppose  in  simple  Chi- 
nese; and  Mr.  Marshman  having  now  succeeded  in  some  de- 
gree in  acquiring  the  language,  undertook  a  similar  super- 
intendence of  the  work,  as  was  exercised  over  the  other  trans- 
lations; only  that  here  a  still  greater  degree  of  care  seems  to 
be  employed  to  render  it  correct  and  faithful.  After  the 
version  is  made  by  Mr.  Lassar,  Mr.  Marshman,  with  Gries- 
bach's  New  Testament  before  him,  goes  over  the  corrected 
copy,  sentence  by  sentence,  along  with  him,  and  then  he 
reads  slowly  to  him  the  English  from  the  Greek  of  Gries- 
bach,  that  he  may  judge  of  the  meaning  and  spirit  of  the 
whole,  by  seeing  it  in  its  connection.  When  a  portion  of  it  is 
prepared  in  this  manner,  two  copies  are  taken  of  it,  one  of 
which  Mr.  Lassar  carries  home  with  him,  that  he  may  review 
it  when  alone,  judge  of  the  Chinese  idiom,  and  avail  him- 
self of  any  idea  arising  from  his  acquaintance  with  the  Ar- 
menian version.  The  other  Mr.  Marshman  examines  in 
company  with  another  learned  Chinese,  whom  they  have  ta- 
ken into  their  employ,  causing  him  to  read  it,  and  give  his 
idea  of  the  meaning  of  every  sentence  and  every  character: 

•  Buchanan's  Memoir  on  tlie  Expediency  of  an  Ecclesiastical  Establishment  in 
Iiulia,  p.  154, 


224  Propagation  of  Christianity 

and  as  this  person  had  previously  no  acquaintance  with  the 
Bible,  nor  with  the  translation,  Mr.  Marshman  had  an  op- 
portunity of  marking  the  slighest  deviations  from  the  origi- 
nal, and  of  canvassing  such  passages  again  with  Mr.  Lassar. 
When  this  process  is  finished,  a  double  page  is  set  up  in 
Chinese  types,  which  is  perhaps'  the  work  of  half  an  hour; 
a  few  copies  are  then  thrown  off,  and  one  given  to  Mr.  Lassar, 
the  Chinese  assistants,  and  to  each  of  the  youths  who  are 
studying  the  language,  that  they  may  peruse  it,  and  make 
their  observations  upon  it.  When  none  of  them  are  able  to 
suggest  any  further  improvement,  the  sheet  is  printed  off. 
Such  is  the  method  which  they  have  now  adopted  in  carry- 
ing on  the  Chinese  translation.* 

At  Serampore,  the  Baptist  missionaries  enjoyed  not  only 
the  utmost  facilities  for  translating,  but  for  printing  the  Holy 
Scriptures  in  the  Oriental  languages.  Just  at  the  time  when 
they  began  to  need  it,  a  letter  foundery  was  erected  at  Cal- 
cutta; a  circumstance  which  may  be  regarded  as  a  singu- 
lar interposition  of  Providence  in  their  behalf.  No  such 
manufactory  had  ever  existed  before  in  the  country,  yet 
without  it,  it  scarcely  seems  probable  the  Scriptures  could 
have  been  printed  in  the  native  languages.  Specimens  of 
the  Bengalee  character  were  sent  to  England,  in  order  to 
have  a  fount  of  types  cast  in  London;  but  for  persons, 
however  ingenious,  who  were  ignorant  of  the  language,  to 
execute  them  with  accuracy,  and  especially  to  keep  a  press 
constantly  at  work,  at  the  distance  of  fifteen  thousand  miles, 
would  liave  been  extremely  difficult,  if  not  even  impractica- 
ble. Happily,  however,  the  ingenious  Dr.  Wiikins  had  led 
the  way  in  this  department,  and  under  the  greatest  disadvan- 
tages, with  respect  to  both  materials  and  workmen,  had,  by 
persevering  industry,  brought  the  Bengalee  to  a  high  degree 
of  perfection.  Soon  after  the  missionaries  settled  at  Seram- 
pore, the  very  artist  whom  he  had  employed  in  that  work, 
and  who  had  in  a  great  measure  imbibed  his  ideas,  was  pro- 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iv.  p.  o5\  vol.  v.  p.  39. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  225 

videiitially  brouglit  to  them.  By  his  assistance  they  erected 
a  letter  foundcry  of  their  own,  and  though  he  has  since  died, 
vet  he  had  so  fully  communicated  the  art  to  .a  number  of 
others,  that  the  native  workmen  now  carry  forward  the  ope- 
ration of  type  founding,  and  even  of  cutting  the  matrices, 
with  a  degree  of  beauty  and  accuracy,  as  would  not  disgrace 
a  European  artist,  'lliey  have  now  cast  founts  in  the  Ben- 
galee; the  Deva-Nagrce,  which  has  more  than  800  letters 
and  combinations;  the  Orissa,  which  consists  of  about  300 
characters;  the  Telinga,  containing  near  1200  separate 
forms;  the  Mahratta,  the  Tamul,  the  Shikh,  the  Cingalese, 
and  the  Burman  languages;  and  they  were  preparing  others 
in  the  Malay-alim  and  the  Cashmire,  which  w^ould  enable 
them  to  print  the  Scriptures  in  most  of  the  languages  of  In- 
dia. The  small  expense  at  which  they  were  able  to  cast 
founts  of  types  in  the  Oriental  languages,  was  such  as  they 
themselves  had  no  idea  of,  till  they  were  convinced  of  it  by 
accounts  from  England.  They  had  written  home  for  a 
fount  of  types  in  the  Tclinga  character,  together  with  the 
matrices;  but  by  the  answer  they  received,  they  found,  that 
what  would  have  cost  seven  hundred  pounds  sterling  in  En- 
gland, they  could  execute  within  their  own  precincts  for 
less  than  two  hundred  pounds!  In  preparing  blocks  for  the 
Chinese,  the  missionaries  were  no  less  successful.  They  at 
first  employed  for  this  purpose,  some  of  the  natives  of  Ben- 
gal, who  had  been  accustomed  for  many  years  to  cut  the 
patterns  of  flowers  used  in  printing  cottons;  and  they  found 
them  succeed  beyond  expectation,  the  delicate  workman- 
ship required  in  that  occupation  qualifying  them  extremely 
well  for  engraving  the  stronger  lines  of  the  Chinese  character. 
By  the  suggestion,  however,  of  one  of  the  youths  engaged  in 
studying  the  Chinese  language,  they  have  now  adopted  the 
method  of  printing  with  moveable  metal  types;  by  which 
means,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  they  will  be  able  to  equal, 
or  even  to  excel  the  Chinese  themselves  in  beauty  of  print- 
ing, while  the  expense  will  be  reduced  almost   beyond  be- 

VOL.  IF.  2  F 


226  l^ropngatlon  of  Christianitij 

lief.  The  types  requisite  to  print  both  the  Old  and  New 
Testament,  will  scarcely  amount  to  400/.  sterling.  In  an 
edition  of  10,000  copies,  (and  the  types  will  admit  of  50,000 
being  thrown  off,)  the  expense  of  merely  printing  a  quantity 
of  letter  press,  cqiial  to  the  English  New  Testament,  will  be 
less  than  one  penny  per  copy  sterling!  Besides,  with  cheap- 
ness and  beauty,  this  improvement  unites  that  great  desidera- 
tum in  Chinese  printhig,  the  facility  of  correcting  the  version 
to  any  extent  whatever,  and  even  with  greater  ease  than  in 
the  Roman  character.* 

To  crown  the  whole,  the  missionaries  have  of  late  erected 
a  paper  mill  at  Serampore,  and  have  already  introduced  con- 
siderable improvements  in  the  manufacture  of  that  important 
article.  The  materials  from  Avhich  it  is  made  grow  in  such 
abundance  in  Bengal,  as  to  enable  the  natives  to  afford  it  at 
one-third  of  the  price  of  English  paper;  but  their  mode  of 
manufacturing  it  is  so  imperfect,  that  the  books  made  of  it 
invariably  fall  a  prey  to  worms  and  insects  in  the  space  of 
five  or  six  years.  The  missionaries,  however,  have  intro- 
duced such  improvements  into  their  manufactory,  that  the 
paper  made  by  them  has  remained  untouched  by  worms, 
when  placed  for  a  considerable  length  of  time  among  paper 
iialf  devoured  by  them.  Having  secured  this  grand  object, 
they  hope,  in  due  time,  to  make  such  further  improvements 
as  will  be  of  material  importance,  as  to  the  cheapness,  the 
colour,  and  the  (juality  of  the  paper.f 

Such  is  a  general  view  of  the  rise,  the  progress,  and  the 
success  of  that  grand  and  noble  plan  which  the  Baptist  mis- 
sionaries formed  of  translating  the  Holy  Scriptures  into  the 
principal  lafiguages  of  the  East.  We  shall  now  return,  and 
resume  the  thread  of  our  history. 

Besides  translating  the  Scriptures  into  the  languages  of 

*  Periodical  Accounts,  vol.  iii.  Preface;  vol.  iv.  p.  55,  56,  372,  376.  Memoir  re- 
lative to  Transhitions,  p.  18.  lieport  liritish  and  Forcip-n  Bible  Socielr,  1813, 
App.  p.  87,  8y.  Letter  f ram  Mr.  Miirsliman  to  Dr.  Uyhiiul,  Jan.  21,  1810,  MSS, 
p.  12. 

t  I'erlod.  Accounts,  vol.  iv.  p.  220,  376. 


by  t/te  Baptist  Missionary  Society. 


227 


tlic  East,  the  missionaries  were  anxious  to  call  forth  the 
native  Christians  to  exert  themselves  for  the  conversion  of 
their  unbelieving  countrymen.  Hitherto,  indeed,  they  had  in 
various  ways  derived  much  important  assistance  from  their 
efforts,  and  in  fact  these  had  been  the  chief  immediate  means 
o^  the  increase  of  the  church.  But  now  the  missionaries 
designed  to  employ  them  on  a  more  regular  and  a  more  ex- 
tended scale.  Besides  wishing  to  interest,  as  far  as  possible, 
the  whole  native  church  in  the  salvation  of  their  countrj^men, 
they  formed  a  plan  of  itinerancy,  resolving  to  select  such  of 
the  converts  as  appeared  best  qualified,  and  to  send  them  out 
tu'o  and  two  together;  one  of  whom  should  be  a  man  of 
ability,  age,  and  steadiness,  the  other  a  younger  brother,  who 
would  thus  be  in  a  useful  practical  school,  pieparatory  for 
future  labours.  They  accordingly  nominated,  at  this  time, 
thirteen  or  fourteen  of  the  native  Christians  to  this  employ- 
ment; besides  whom,  there  were  several  others  who  still  re- 
sided at  Serampore,  and  who  embraced  opportunities  on  the 
Lord's  day  of  making  known  the  gospel  among  their  coun= 
trvmen* 

Scarcely,  however,  had  this  plan  been  adopted,  when  an 
event  occurred  which  threatened  the  interruption,  if  not  even 
the  subversion,  of  the  whole  mission.     About  a  fortnight 
after,  Messrs.  James  Chaterand  \V.  Robinson,  two  new  mis- 
sionaries, ai^rived  at  Calcutta;  but  on  presenting  themselves 
at  the  police-oPiice,  some  demur  was  made  as  to  their  being 
permitted  to  proceed  to  Serampore.     On  Dr.  Carey's  going 
to  the  office,  he  was  informed  by  one  of  the  magistrates,  that 
they  had  the  following  message  to  him  from  sir  George  Bar- 
low, the  governor- general:  "  That  as  government  did  not  in- 
tcrfere  with  the  prejudices  of  the  natives,  it  was  his  request 
that  Mr.  Carey  and  his  colleagues  would  not."  This  request, 
us  expUiincd  by  the  magistrates,  amounted  to  this,  "  They 
were  not  to  preach  to  the  natives,   nor  to  suffer  the  native 
converts  to  preach;  they  were  not  to  distribute  religious  tracts, 

•  Period,  Accounts,  V(,l.  iii.  p.  262. 


228  Propagation  of  Christianity 

nor  suffer  their  people  to  distribute  tlieni;  they  were  not  to 
send  forth  the  converts,  nor  to  take  any  step,  by  conversation 
or  otherwise,  for  persuading  the  natives  to  embrace  Christi- 
anity." Some  of  these  restrictions,  however,  were  softened, 
in  a  subsequent  conversation  between  the  magistrates  and  a 
friend  of  the  missionaries.  "  It  was  not  meant,"  they  said, 
*'  to  prohibit  Mr.  Carey  or  his  brethren  from  preaching  at 
Serampore,  or  in  their  own  house  at  Calcutta,  only  they  must 
not  preach  in  the  Loll  Bazar  in  that  city.  It  was  not  intend- 
ed to  prevent  their  circulating  the  Scriptures,  but  merely 
the  tracts  abusing  the  Hindoo  religion;  and  that  there  was 
no  design  to  prohibit  the  native  converts  from  conversing 
with  their  countrymen  on  the  subject  of  Christianity,  only 
they  must  not  go  out  under  the  sanction  of  the  missionaries." 
This  interference  on  the  part  of  the  British  government  was 
no  doubt  occasioned  by  the  alarm  which  had  been  excited  in 
the  country  by  the  mutiny  of  Vellore,  intelligence  of  which 
had  just  reached  Calcutta;  but  yet  it  was  never  insinuated,  as 
indeed,  it  could  not  be,  that  the  labours  of  the  Baptist  mis- 
sionaries had,  in  the  most  distant  manner,  contributed  to  that 
melancholy  event,  Qn  the  contrary,  the  magistrates  frankly 
acknowledged,  that  "  they  were  well  satisfied  with  their  cha- 
racter and  deportment,  and  that  no  complaint  had  ever  been 
lodged  against  tliem."  But  notwithstanding  this,  an  order 
of  council  was  passed,  commanding  Messrs.  Chater  and 
Robinson  to  return  to  Europe,  and  refusing  captain  Wickes, 
who  brought  them  out,  a  clearance  for  his  vessel,  unless 
he  took  them  back  with  him.  These  two  missionaries, 
however,  had  in  the  meanwhile  joined  their  brethren  at 
Serampore,  where  they  were  under  the  protection  and  pa- 
tronage of  the  crovv^n  of  Denmark;  and  in  consequence  of 
the  representations  that  were  made  to  the  British  govern- 
ment, they  were  permitted  to  remain  in  the  country,  and 
the  captain  was  furnished  with  the  papers  necessary  for  his 
departure.* 

•  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iii.  p.  ZT'a. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  229 

In  this  state  matters  remained  for  a  considerable  time, 
when  a  new  circumstance  occurred,  which  filled  the  friends 
of  the  mission  with  deep  concern,  and  furnished  its  adver- 
saries with  a  momentary  triumph.     A  tract,  which  had  been 
printed  in  Bengalee,  and  which,  in  that  language,  contained 
nothing  oifensive,  was  translated  by  one  of  the  natives  into 
Persic,  and,  through  the  pressure  of  business,  was  inadver- 
tendy  printed,  without  being  first  inspected  by  the  mission- 
aries.    It  happened,  unfortunately,  that  the  translator  had  in- 
troduced into  this  version  several  strong  epithets,  styling  Ma- 
hommed  a  tyrant,   &c.  which  it  was  alleged  would  irritate 
his  followers;  and  though  no  such  affect  had  been  produced, 
yet  a  copy  of  it  being  conveyed  to  a  person  in  office  under 
government,  the  affair  was  taken  up  in  a  serious  manner. 
Dr.  Carey   was  sent  for;  but,  being  unacquainted  with  the 
circumstances  of  the  case,  he  could  only  acknowledge  the 
impropriety  of  the  epithets,  and  promise  to  inquire  into  the 
cause  of  their  appearance.     But  before  he  had  time  to  make 
this  inquiry,  proceedings  were  commenced,  which  had  they 
been  carried  into  execution,  must  have  been  followed  by  the 
ruin  of  the  mission.     In  consequence,  however,  of  an  ex- 
planation, and  a  respectful  memorial  to  lord  Minto,  who  was 
now  the  governor -general,  the  most  serious  part  of  the  pro- 
ceedings was  formally  revoked.     On  this  occasion,   two  of 
the  missionaries  waited  on  his  lordship,  to  thank  him  for  the 
candour  with  which  he  had  attended  to  their  memorial.     To 
which  he  replied,  that  nothing  more  was  necessary  than  a 
mere  examination   of  the  subject,  upon  which  every  thing 
had  appeared  in  a  clear  and  favourable  light.     But  as  all  the 
printed  tracts  had  passed  under  examination,  and  as  two 
others,  besides  the  one  in  Persic,  were  objected  to,  the  mis- 
sionaries were  required  in  future,  not  to  print  any  tracts, 
without  first  submitting  a  copy  of  them  to  the  inspection  of 
government.* 

•  Periodical  Account?,  vol  ill.  p.  392. 


230  Propagation  of  Christianity 

When  the  British  government  first  interfered  with  their  la- 
bours, and  began  to  subject  them  to  restraints  in  Bengal,  the 
missionaries  were  induced  to  turn  their  attention  to  other 
parts  of  the  East.  They  had  long  before,  indeed,  formed 
the  design  of  establishing  new  stations  in  different  quarters 
of  the  country;  but  except  at  Dinagepore  and  Cutwa,  they 
had  hitherto  made  no  attempts  of  that  kind.  The  opposi- 
tion, however,  which  was  now  raised  to  their  labours  in  Ben- 
gal, again  turned  their  attention  to  the  same  important  ob- 
ject; and  thus  a  circumstance,  which  at  first  threatened  the 
interests,  and  even  the  existence  of  the  mission,  may  ulti- 
mately be  the  mean  of  promoting  its  extension  and  suc- 
cess.^ The  quarter  to  which  the  missionaries  first  directed 
their  attention  was  the  Burman  empire. 

In  January  1807,  Messrs.  Mardon  and  Chater  set  sail  from 
Calcutta,  and  after  a  voyage  of  eighteen  days  arrived  at 
Rangoon,  the  principal  port  in  that  kingdom,  with  the  view 
of  making  such  inquiries  as  were  judged  necessary,  relative 
to  the  character,  religion,  and  manners,  of  the  Burmans,  pre- 
vious to  the  establishment  of  a  mission  among  them.  After 
remaining  some  weeks  in  the  country,  they  returned  to  Se- 
rampore,  and  made  a  verj'  favourable  report  of  that  people, 
and  of  the  prospect  of  success  among  them.  Mr.  Mardon, 
however,  declined  the  mission,  choosing  rather  to  remain  in 
Bengal;  but  Mr.  Chater,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Felix  Carey, 
the  eldest  son  of  Dr.  Carey,  returned  to  Rangoon  a  few 
months  after,  and  on  their  arrival  met  with  a  very  friendly 
reception,  not  only  from  the  English  gentlemen  in  that  city, 
but  even  from  the  Maywoon,  or  viceroy  of  that  part  of  the 
empire. t 

Soon  after  their  arrival,  Mr.  Felix  Carey,  who  had  previ  • 
ously  paid  some  attention  to  the  study  of  medicine,  intro- 
duced the  cow-pox  into  the  Burman  empire.  After  inocu- 
lating a  considerable  number  of  persons  in  Rangoon,  he  was 

•  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  541;  vol.  iii.  p.  285. 
\  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  329,  ZZ7,  341, 389,  421,  433. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  231 

sent  for  by  the  Maywoon  himself,  to  perform  the  operation 
on  his  family.  He  accordingly  proceeded  to  the  palace,  and 
agreeably  to  the  custom  of  the  country,  took  off  his  shoes  at 
the  outer  steps,  before  he  entered  the  inner  apartment.  He 
now  approached  the  viceroy,  as  all  the  officers  of  govern- 
ment, and  others  who  wait  upon  him,  do,  on  his  hands  and 
knees,  and  sat  down  on  a  carpet  near  his  interpreter.  After 
making  several  inquiries  concerning  the  cow-pox,  the  gov- 
ernor desired  him  to  inoculate  his  femily,  which  he  accord- 
ingly did,  vaccinating  two  women,  three  of  his  children,  and 
four  others.  The  Maywoon's  lady  at  first  opposed  the  mea- 
sure; she  came,  however,  and  saw  the  operation,  and  seem- 
ed on  the  whole  very  well  pleased  with  it.  Mr.  Carey's  me- 
dical skill  seems,  afterwards,  to  have  obtained  him  high  re- 
putation among  the  Burmans,  and  to  have  given  him  consi- 
derable influence  in  the  country.  On  one  occasion,  he  was 
even  sent  for  to  court,  to  attend  the  young  prince,  the  heir 
of  the  throne;  but  after  proceeding  a  short  way  on  his  jour- 
ney,  he  received  intelligence  of  the  death  of  the  youth,  and 
of  course  returned.* 

In  beginning  the  study  of  the  language,  the  missionaries 
lost  no  time;  and  with  this  view  placed  themselves  under 
the  tuition  of  a  man  whom  they  understood  to  be  qualified 
in  no  ordinary  degree  for  instructing  them;  but  in  this  they 
appear  to  have  been  misinformed,  for  upwards  of  two  years 
afic'-,  Mr.  Chater  says,  that  until  of  late,  they  had  not  been 
able  to  obtain  a  teacher  of  any  considerable  learning.  They 
had  then,  however,  procured  as  distinguished  a  scholar,  it 
was  said,  as  could  be  found  in  the  country.  He  understood 
not  only  the  vulgar  language  of  the  Burmans,  but  the  Magu- 
da  or  learned  language,  which  appears  to  be  only  a  dialect 
of  the  Sungskrit.  While  engaged  in  these  studies,  they  ob- 
tained, among  other  works,  a  book  consisting  of  scripture 
cxtruv:ts,  which  they  found  very  useful.  It  was  translated  by 
a  Roman  Catholic  missionary,  who,  at  that  time,  resided  at 

•  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iii.  p.  434.  454. 


232  Propagation  of  Christianity 

Ava,  the  ancient  capital,  and  had  been  twenty-five  years  in 
the  country.* 

Having  procured  a  piece  of  ground  for  the  purpose,  the 
missionaries  erected  a  house  for  themselves,  a  work  in  which 
they  were  kindly  assisted  by  the  Europeans  resident  in  the 
country.  It  was  without  the  town,  and  by  this  means  es- 
caped destruction  when  Ummerapoora  the  capital,  and  the 
whole  of  Rangoon,  were  sometime  afterward,  burnt  to  the 
ground,  it  was  supposed  by  some  incendiaries,  as  the  most 
violent  discontents  then  prevailed  throughout  the  empire,  on 
account  of  a  war  which  had  broken  out  with  the  Siamese. 
But  though  the  house  of  the  missionaries  had  escaped  the 
general  conflagration,  yet  the  people  were  so  desperate,  and 
seemed  so  determined  to  burn  the  few  houses  that  remain- 
ed, that  they  were  obliged  for  some  time  to  keep  a  regular 
watch  every  night,  for  the  safety  of  themselves  and  their 
habitation,  f 

Soon  after  the  burning  of  Rangoon,  a  new  viceroy  was 
sent  to  that  city;  and  on  his  arrival  he  shewed  the  missiona- 
ries no  less  kindness  than  his  predecessor.  One  day,  as  Mr. 
Carey  was  riding  out  to  visit  his  patients,  he  saw  a  man  sus- 
pended on  a  cross,  a  mode  of  punishment  common  in  the 
Burman  empire.  Moved  with  compassion  for  his  sufferings, 
and  understanding  that  his  offence  was  but  of  a  trivial  nature, 
he  repaired  immediately  to  the  Maywoon's  palace,  and  as  he 
was  in  the  habit  of  visiting  one  of  his  female  relations  who 
was  then  ill,  he  had  access  to  all  the  private  apartments.  The 
viceroy,  indeed,  had  given  orders,  that  no  person  should  be 
admitted  into  his  presence,  in  order  that  he  might  not  be 
importuned,  in  behalf  of  the  criminal,  as  he  was  determined 
to  punish  him.  To  enter,  was  theiefore  attended  with  no 
small  danger,  and  might  have  cost  our  young  missionary  his 
head.     He  ventured,  however;  presented  his  petition,  and, 

•  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iii.  p.  475,  532;  vol.  Iv.  p.  32,37, 172,  .>". 
f  Ibid.  vol.  iv.  p.  133. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  233 

according  to  the  Biu'man  custom,  insisted  on  its  being  grant- 
ed before  he  left  the  place.  The  Maywoon  refused  his  re- 
quest  several  times,  but  at  last  offered  to  grant  it,  provided 
he  would  promise  never  again  to  intercede  in  behalf  of  a 
criminal.  This  Mr.  Carey  refused.  He  then  made  him 
promise  to  accompany  him  to  Ava,  when  he  should  have 
occasion  to  go  thither.  An  order  was  now  given  for  the  re- 
lease of  the  culprit,  but  it  had  yet  to  go  through  all  the  forms 
of  office.  When  Mr,  Carey  at  last  obtained  it  from  the 
secretary,  he  hastened  with  it  to  the  cross;  but  on  his  arrival 
not  one  of  the  officers  would  read  it,  without  a  reward.  In 
vain  did  he  remonstrate;  in  vain  did  he  threaten  them.  He 
was  obliged  at  length  to  offer  them  a  piece  of  cloth,  to  in- 
duce them  to  perform  this  common  act  of  humanity.  The 
poor  wretch  was  then  taken  down,  and  had  just  strength 
enough  to  express  his  gratitude  to  Mr.  Carey.  He  had  been 
nailed  to  the  cross  about  three  in  the  afternoon,  and  it  was 
now  between  nine  and  ten  at  night,  so  that  he  had  already 
been  hanging  in  torture  for  near  seven  hours;  but  yet  he 
afterwards  recovered  his  health.  Mr.  Carey,  it  was  sup- 
posed, was  the  only  person  in  Rangoon,  who  would  have 
succeeded  with  the  Maywoon  in  such  a  request;  and,  as 
might  naturally  be  expected,  his  conduct  on  this  occasion, 
gained  him  high  renown  among  the  Burmans.  Tlie  fellow, 
however,  afterwards  turned  out  a  bad  man:  he  was  again 
detected  in  theft,  and  taken  into  custody.  The  agonies  of  a 
cross  it  seems  were  insufficient  to  reclaim  him.* 

The  missionaries  have,  as  yet,  made  little  progress  with 
regard  to  the  main  object  of  their  residence  in  the  Burman 
empire,  the  introduction  of  the  gospel  into  it.  They  have 
never,  indeed,  been  properly  settled  in  the  country,  owing 
partly  to  the  confusions  which  have  prevailed,  almost  ever 
since  their  arrival,  and  partly  to  the  ill  state  of  health  of  their 
own  families,  which  has  obliged  them  to  make  frequent  voy- 
ages to  Bengal.     Mr.  Chater  has  been  at  last  obliged  to 

•  Periodical  Accounts,  vol,  iv.  p.  174,  259. 
VOL.  II.  2  G 


234  Propagation  of  Christianity 

leave  Rangoon,  the  climate  agreed  so  extremely  ill  with  his 
wife.  Mr.  Felix  Carey*  now  remains  alone  at  that  place- 
He  is  preparing  materials  for  a  JMaguda  grammar  and  diction- 
ary, and  has  made  so  successful  a  commencement,  in  the 
study  of  that  language,  as  promises  fair  to  produce,  at  length, 
a  version  of  the  ?acred  scriptures  into  it,  equal  in  precision 
to  the  Sungskrit.  The  translation  of  the  New  Testament 
into  the  vulgar  Burman  is  going  forward,  and  a  large  volume 
of  Scripture  Extracts  has  already  been  printed  in  tliat  Ian- 
guagc't 

GoAMALTY. — In  February  1808,  Mr.  Mardon,  accompa- 
nied by  two  or  three  families  of  the  native  converts,  was  sent 
to  Goamalty,  a  place  near  Malda,  the  country  in  that  neigh- 
bourhood having  lately  sustained  a  severe  loss  in  the  death 
of  Mr.  William  Grant,  and  Mr.  Creighton,  tvv^o  pious  gentle- 
men in  that  quarter,  who,  for  som>e  years  past,  had  been  en- 
deavouring, in  a  silent  manner,  to  pave  the  way  for  the  diffu- 
sion of  Christian  knowledge  among  the  natives,  particularly 
by  erecting  and  supporting  schools  for  the  education  of  the 
youth.J^  Before  they  left  Serampore,  the  following,  among 

I  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iv.  p.  402,  373.         \  Tbld.  vol.  Hi.  p.  418,  443. 

*  Inforinatinn  from  dliTcrent  sources  has  been  communicated  to  the 
Board,  that  Mr.  Felix  Carey  has  seceded  from  the  professed  work  of  a 
Missionary  in  Burmah,  and  directed  his  views  to  medical  and  political 
pursuits.  Let  no  man  ofG-.d  he  discouraged  onthis  account.  Such  seces- 
sion may  be  expected  while  Missionaries  are  men  of  like  passions  with 
ourselves.  It  requires  the  faith  of  a  Moses  to  contemn  the  cliarms  of 
a  palace.  Possibly  the  recedure  may  be  only  a  transient  one.  Should  it 
even  continue,  we  are  not  warranted  to  suppose  Mr.  Carey  an  enemv. — 
See  Second  Annual  Rejiort  of  the  Ba/itist  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
for  the  United  States, /i.  61. 

§  In  Bengal,  a  very  small  proportion  of  the  people  are  taught  to  reail. 
The  country  contains  innumerable  villages,  inhabited  chieily  by  far- 
mers, labourers,  and  mechanics.  Avho.  with  the  watermen  and  fishermen 
that  line  the  lakes  and  rivers,  form  the  great  body  of  the  people;  yet  of 
these  scarcely  one  can  make  use  of  a  book.  All  the  women,  without 
exception,  whatever  be  their  rank  and  chai-acter,  are  excluded  from 
this  privilege  by  immemorial  custom,  a  barrier  stronger  than  law.  This 
small  degi-ee  of  learning  is  almost  entirely  confined  to  the  Brahmins  and 
t!ie  Writer  cast,  and  even  of  these  there  are  vast  numbers  who  are 
quite  illiterate.     To  remedy  this  evil,  and  by  extending  the  art  of  read- 


by  the  haptist  Missionary  Society.  2o5 

otiicr,  excellent  instructions  were  addressed  to  them  by  their 
brethren,  and  exhibit  an  interesting  picture  of  that  spirit  of 
gentleness  and  love  which  reigns  among  the  Baptist  mission- 
aries, and  A\'iiich  should  ever  characterize  the  servants  of 
Christ: 

"  You  will  first  form  yourselves  into  a  church,  and  entei; 
upon  the  duties  of  your  church  state*  Having  thus  prepa- 
red the  garden,  you  will  look  around  you  for  plants  to  fill  it. 
Yet  here  you  will  see  nothing  but  a  Vvilderness;  and  though 
it  may  be  dark  and  gloomy,  and  you  may  be  discouraged  ev- 
ery time  you  enter  it,  yet  you  must  venture  among  the  thick 
bushes,  and  endeavour  to  gather  such  shrubs  as  may  bring 
forth  fruit  to  the  glory  of  God.  Though  wild  by  nature, 
the  transplanting  them  into  the  garden  of  God,  will,  through 
the  care  and  skill  of  the  Great  Vine-Dresser,  chanp-e  their 
nature,  and  cause  them  to  bring  forth  such  fruit  as  shall  re- 
joice the  heart  of  God  and  man. 

"  Be  not  content  with  preaching  merely.  Draw  the  natives 
to  you;  mingle  with  them;  become  their  servant  to  win  them; 
iry  to  gain  their  aflections;  shew  them  that  you  can  actually 
become  their  brother,  and  that  though  they  may  be  hated  of 
all  men  for  Christ's  sake,  ycX  that  }'ou  will  never  be  ashamed 
of  them,  nor  forsake  them.  Who  would,  humanly  speaking, 
lose  cast  to  be  disowned,  and  slighted,  and  kept  at  a  distance? 
Let  the  natives  see  that  the  friendship  they  loose  in  the  world, 
will  be  amply  made  up  in  the  bosom  of  the  church,  and  es- 
pecially in  the  nursing  care  of  its  pastor.  Never  forget,  dear 
brother,  that  your  mijiistry  is  a  "  winning  of  souls."  It  is 
love  alone  that  can  dissolve  the  chains  of  the  cast;  it  is  the 


iiii!;  ainon^  tlie  Hindoos,  to  open  up  to  thorn  the  treasures  of  moral  and 
religious  kiuiwledge,  these  two  excellent  men  established  a  number  of 
schools  in  their  neiujlihourhood,  under  t!ie  care  of  native  teachers.  Mr. 
Grant  at  his  death  left  a  legacy  of  twenty  thousand  rupees  to  tlie  mis- 
sion; ten  th.ousaiid  for  the  translations;  and  ten  tliousaad  for  tlie  sup- 
port of  an  evangelical  ministry  in  the  church  at  Calcutta,  of  which  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Brov/n  was  the  pastor.  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iii.  p.  446. 
Brief  Narrative,  p.  83. 


236  Propagation  of  Christianity 

love  of  Christ  alone,  in  dying  for  sinners,  that  has  accomplish- 
ed whatever  has  already  been  done  in  the  conversion  of  Hin- 
doos: and  there  is  no  hope  but  in  a  ministry  that  shall  be  like 
that  of  the  great  Head  of  the  church,  whose  love  was  strong- 
er than  death. 

"  When  you  perceive  that  the  word  has  in  any  measure 
taken  effect  in  any  heart,  adhere  closely  to  such  a  person; 
take  him  aside,  and  pour  out  to  him  the  treasures  of  the 
gospel;  pray  Vi^ith  him  alone,  and  endeavour  to  excite  in  him 
a  cordial  surrender  of  himself  to  Christ.  Young  plants,  ex- 
posed to  so  much  heat,  and  to  so  many  storms  as  they  are 
in  this  country,  have  need  to  be  nourished  with  peculiar 
tenderness. 

"  You  will  watch  over  the  native  itinerants  with  constant 
care ;  promote  their  growth  in  divine  knowledge,  and  their 
experience  of  the  power  of  religion  on  their  hearts.  Treat 
them  with  peculiar  notice,  as  persons  who  have  lost  all  for 
Christ.  Preserve,  at  the  same  time,  firmness  of  character 
and  order,  in  all  your  intercourse  with  them.  Urge  them, 
by  every  scripture  argument,  to  a  diligent  discharge  of  the 
duties  incumbent  upon  them,  as  persons  separated  to  the 
gospel  of  Christ,  and  excite  them  to  an  incessant  pressing 
of  the  gospel  upon  the  attention  of  their  countrymen,  whom 
they  daily  meet  with,  either  at  home  or  abroad."* 

Such  were  the  instructions  that  were  addressed  to  Mr. 
Mardon,  previous  to  his  departure  to  Goamalty;  but  as  yet 
the.  settlement  in  that  quarter  has  been  attended  with  little 
success.  It  was  not  long,  indeed,  before  he  had  the  plea- 
sure of  baptizing  three  of  the  natives,  together,  with  an  Eng- 
lishman of  the  name  of  Johnson.  His  lal)ours,  however, 
were  much  interrupted  by  indisposition;  and  we  regret  to 
add,  that  of  late  his  w^ife,  two  of  his  children,  and  himself, 
have  all  died  widiin  five  months  of  each  other.  Previous  to 
his  death,  Mr,  De  Cruz,  one  of  the  converts,  who  was  pre- 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iii.  p.  489 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  237 

viously  a  Portuguese  Catholic,  was  sent  to  his  assistance. 
The  natives  in  this  part  of  the  country  being  very  soUcitous 
for  schools,  several  have  been  established,  which  are  super- 
intended by  Mr.  De  Cruz,  who  also  preaches  with  much 
acceptance.  The  schools  are  increasing  rapidly,  and  many 
of  the  children  read  the  Holy  Scriptures  fluently.* 

Bootan. — In  April  1808,  Mr.  Robinson  accompanied  by 
Mr.  William  Carey,  one  of  Dr.  Carey's  sons,  set  out  on  an 
exploratory  mission  to  Bootan,  and  on  their  arrival  in  that 
country,  they  met  with  a  friendly  reception  from  the  inhabi- 
tants. For  a  considerable  time,  however,  various  circum- 
stances, particularly  personal  and  family  distress,  prevented 
Mr.  Robinson  from  settling  in  that  country;  even  when  he 
returned,  new  occurrences  took  place,  which  interrupted  his 
residence;  and  the  mission  was  at  length  given  up,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  following  melancholy  event,  f  In  January 
1811,  Mr.  Robinson,  accompanied  by  a  3'oung  man  and  his 
wife,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cornish,  both  members  of  the  Baptist 
church,  arrived  at  Barbaree,  a  place  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Bootan,  where  he  had  erected  a  temporary  habitation,  and 
where  they  intended  to  stop  till  they  could  obtain  an  op- 
portunity of  settling  in  that  country.  But  only  three  or 
four  nights  after  their  arrival,  the  watchman  awoke  Mr. 
Cornish,  about  twelve  o'clock,  and  told  him  that  he  had  ob- 
served a  man  about  the  premises,  who  he  thought,  was  of  a 
suspicious  appearance.  On  receiving  this  information,  Mr. 
Cornish  rose,  and  apprehending  that  there  was  only  a  single 
thief,  fired  his  gun,  and  again  lay  down  to  rest.  Just,  how- 
ever, as  he  v/as  falling  asleep,  he  was  roused  by  a  band  of  fif- 
ty or  sixty  robbers,  armed  with  spears,  attacking  the  house. 
Having  still  no  idea  of  their  number,  he  aimed  a  blow  at  one 
of  the  ruftans,  with  the  butt  end  of  his  gun,  when  instantly 
two  spears  were  pointed  at  him  from  the  windows,  by  which 

•  Period,  \ccounts,  vol.  Hi.  p.  547,  483,  484,  527;  vol.  v.  p.  68,  78,  89,  70,  80,  91. 
t  Ibid.  y(j!.  in.  p.  466,  517, 


258  Propagatioti  of  Christianity 

he  was  slightly  wounded  in  the  side.  Meanwhile,  Mr. 
Robinson,  whose  room  was  still  unmolested,  put  on  a  few 
clothes,  and  not  knowing  the  number  of  the  robbers,  nor 
how  they  were  armed,  thought  of  resisting  them.  He 
passed  them  in  the  dark,  and  went  into  the  pantry,  from 
whence  he  took  a  knife.  The  robbers,  at  that  instant,  set 
fire  to  some  straw  for  the  sake  of  light;  and  observing  the 
knife  in  his  hand,  two  of  them  struck  at  him  with  their 
spears.  Perceiving  by  this  time,  that  resistance  was  vain,  he 
opened  the  back  door,  and  went  to  the  room  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Cornish,  hoping  to  get  them  out  at  the  windows.  "  Come 
away,"  said  he,  or  we  shall  all  be  murdered."  "  Oh!  Mr. 
Robinson,  my  poor  child,*'  cried  Mrs.  Cornish,  "  do  take 
it."  He  took  the  child,  and  Mr.  Cornish,  Mrs.  Cornish,  and 
an  aged  female  servant,  followed  them.  Mrs.  Cornish  ran 
towards  the  stable;  and  in  following  her,  they  found  the  cook 
lying  on  the  ground.  Thinking  he  might  be  asleep,  they 
shook  him,  but  he  answered  with  a  deep  hollow  groan.  They 
now  made  the  best  of  their  way  over  the  ditch  which  sur- 
rounded the  premises,  into  the  field;  and  having  wandered 
to  a  place  about  a  mile  distant,  sat  down  on  the  cold  ground, 
with  scarcely  any  clothing.  Even  here,  however,  their  fears 
were  not  at  an  end;  the  shaking  of  a  leaf  made  them  tremble. 
To  increase  their  apprehensions,  Mr.  Cornish's  little  boy 
was  so  cold,  it  was  with  much  difficulty  he  could  be  kept 
from  crying,  which  might  have  discovered  the  place  of  their 
retreat  to  the  robbers,  had  they  passed  in  that  direction.* 

As  soon  as  the  morning  dawned,  they  returned  to  their 
habitation,  where  they  beheld  a  most  heart-rending  scene. 
A  few  yards  from  the  back  door  lay  the  cook,  murdered; 
and  at  a  little  distance  from  the  front  door,  the  house-keep- 
er. The  washerman  also  was  severely  u  ounded,  and  after- 
wards died  of  his  wounds.  Books,  papers,  boxes,  and  other 
articles  lay  on  the  outside  of  the  house,  stained  with  blood; 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iv.  p.  266,  "269, 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  239 

within,  all  was  confusion  and  destruction.  The  utensils  ca- 
pable of  being  broken,  were  dashed  to  pieces;  the  books 
Avere  thrown  in  heaps,  or  scattered  about  the  house;  and  the 
clothes,  except  a  very  few  articles,  which  the  robbers  had 
])robably  dropped  in  their  hurry,  were  all  carried  away.  The 
loss,  in  property  of  different  kinds,  was  supposed  to  amount 
to  two  thousand  rupees,  or  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds 
sterling.* 

Terrible,  however,  as  was  the  disaster,  it  was  not  unmin- 
gled  \vith  mercy.     Mr.   Cornish  had  a  little  apprentice  girl 
named  Janetta,   who,  on  the  first  alarm,  ran  out  of  the  bed- 
room into  the  pantry;  but  the  robbers  coming  into  that  place, 
and   seeing  her,   exclaimed,    "  Here   is   one  of  the  Sahib's 
people/'     One  of  them  searched  her  breast  for  money,  but 
finding  none,  he  was  about  to  kill  her,  upon  which,  holding 
up  her  hands  to  another  of  the  ruffians,  she  said,  "  I  am  but 
a  poor  little  girl;   do  not  kill  me."     The  fellow  answered, 
"  If  you  will  shew  us  where  the  money  is,  you  shall  not  be 
hurt.  She  accordingly  directed  them  to  the  two  bed-rooms, 
into  which  they  all  rushed,   when  she  embraced  the  oppor- 
tunity of  escaping  at  the  back  door,   and  concealed  herself 
in  the  store-room.     It  is  also   worthy   of  notice,   that  Mr. 
Robinson  and  his  companions,  in  proceeding  from  the  house, 
were  directed,   without  any   knowledge  or  design  on  their 
part,   in  the  right  path.     In  that  corner  of  the  garden  where 
the  stable  was,   there  happened   to  be  no  gate- way,   which 
there  was  at  every  other  corner;  and  at  each  of  these  entran- 
ces some  of  the  robbers  were  placed  on  guard,   so  that  had 
they  proceeded  by  any  of  them,  they  v/ould,  in  all  probabil- 
ity,  have  been  murdered.     Mr.  Robinson,   indeed,  had  no 
less  than  fom*  wounds,  one  on  his  right  knee,  one  on  his  left 
arm,  one  on  his  belly,  and  one  on  his  breast;  the  last  of  them 
was  the  worst,  and  had  not  the  spear  struck  against  the  bone, 
would  probably  proved  fatal.  The  wound  in  Mr.  Cornish's 
side,  it  is  likely,  would  also  have  been  mortal,  had  it  not 

*  PcrioJ,  Accovmts,  vol.  iv.  p.  268 


240  Propagation  of  Christianity 

been  for  a  similar  circumstance.  In  this  distressed  situation, 
they  set  off  for  Dinagepore,  where  they  arrived  after  a  jour- 
ney of  three  days,  and  were  most  kindly  received  by  their 
friends  in  that  city,  who  vied  with  each  in  supplying  their 
wants,  and  endeavouring  to  alleviate  their  distress.*  Soon 
after  this  terrible  disaster  at  Barbaree,  Mr.  Robinson  once 
more  attempted  to  enter  Bootan.  He  applied  to  the  Katma 
of  Bhotehaut,  for  a  monshee  to  teach  him  the  language,  and 
for  permission  to  ascend  the  hills.  But  as  that  officer  first  re- 
ferred him  to  the  Rajah,  and  afterwards  wrote  him  a  discour- 
aging letter,  the  mission  was,  for  the  present,  relinquished.! 
Jessore. — After  Mr.  Marshman's  visit  to  the  Hindoo 
dissenters  in  Jessore,  of  which  we  have  already  taken  no- 
tice,J  some  of  the  other  missionaries  went  to  see  them,  and 
several  of  these  people  also  came  on  various  occasions  to 
Serampore.  A  school  was  erected  among  them;  and  on 
the  Sabbath  they  assembled  together  for  divine  worship; 
one  of  them  prayed,  and  explained  the  gospel  to  the  others; 
but  singular  as  this  may  seem,  there  was  little  appearance  of 
any  real  disposition  among  them  to  embrace  Christianity,  for 
though  they  talked  fairly,  their  conduct  was  far  from  being 
agreeable  to  their  professions.  §  About  the  end  of  1806, 
three  of  these  persons  from  Luckphool,  who  had  long  pro- 
fessed to  believe  the  gospel,  but  declined  making  a  public 
profession  of  it,  came  on  a  visit  to  Serampore.  In  con- 
versing with  one  of  them  named  Sookur  Bishess,  the  mis- 
sionaries warned  him  of  the  danger  of  temporizing  in  the 
manner  he  had  hitherto  done,  telling  him,  that  "  If  he  was 
ashamed  of  Christ  before  men,  Christ  would  be  ashamed  of 
him  before  his  Father  and  before  his  angels."  He  declared, 
that  "  He  thought  there  was  no  way  to  heaven  except  by 
Christ,  and  that  if  he  thought  himself  near  death,  he  would 
make  an  open  profession  of  his  name."    The  missionaries 

•  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iv.  p.  268,  270.  \  Ibid.  vol.  iv.  p.  406. 

§  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  372,  397,  451;  vol.  iii.  p.  53. 

I  See  Page  190. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  241 

reminded  him  of  the  uncertainty  of  life,  and  entreated  him 
to  consider  whether  his  refusal  publicly  to  profess  Chris- 
tianity, did  not  proceed  from  his  regarding  sin  in  his  heait, 
and  from  fearing  men  more  than  God.  Little  did  they  think 
that  he  should  prove  so  awful  an  instance  of  the  truth  of  these 
observations.  Only  six  days  after  his  return,  he  was  mur- 
dered in  his  own  village  by  a  band  of  robbers.  It  seems  he 
had,  though  unknown  to  the  missionaries,  carried  on  a  cri- 
minal correspondence  with  a  woman,  some  of  whose  rela- 
tions belonged  to  a  gang  of  thieves,  who  infested  that  quar- 
ter of  the  country,  and  almost  set  the  magistrates  at  defi- 
ance.* These  people  had  long  been  determined  to  take  re- 
venge on  him,  and  having  heard  that  he  had  returned  from 
Seramporc,  they  imagined  he  nmst  there  have  obtained  a 
sum  of  money,  a  report  which  had  been  circulated,  in  many 
instances,  with  the  view  of  scandalizing  tlie  gospel,  though 
nothing  could  be  more  contrary  to  truth. f  Thinking  this  a 
favourable  opportunity  for  accomplishing  their  design,  they 
one  night  beset  the  house  where  he  and  the  woman  were, 
and  after  bringing  them  out  bound,  set  their  habitation  on 
fire,  and  threatened  to  throw  him  into  the  flames,  unless  he 
would  discover  to  them  the  money  they  supposed  he  had 
concealed.  Hoping,  probably,  to  make  his  escape,  he  led 
them  to  a  tree  at  some  distance,  and  told  them  to  dig  beneath 
it.  After  digging  some  time  in  vain,  one  of  them  enraged 
at  his  conduct,  pierced  him  through  with  his  spear,  and  shed 
out  his  bowels,  another  wounded  him  across  the  breast,  and 
a  third  cut  off  his  head.     Thus  perished  this  poor  unhappy 

*  Mr.  Mardon,  speaking  of  these  robbers,  mentions  a  stor}"^  of  one 
of  them,  who,  on  his  trial  for  murder,  was  asked  by  the  maii;istrate. 
"  How  many  men  he  had  killed  in  his  lifetime?"  To  which  the  fellow 
impudently  replied,  "  Ask  a  fisherman  how  many  fish  he  has  caught  in 
his  lifetime!"     Period.  Accounts^  vol.  iii.  p.  320. 

t  One  day  a  man  came  to  Serampore  from  Culna,  as  he  had  heard 
that  the  missionaries  gave  a  thousand  rupees  and  a  mistress  to  every 
one  who  lost  cast!  Reports  of  tiie  same  kind  were  received  from  other 
quarters.     Period.  Accounts,  vol.  ii.  p.  G;":"),  484. 

VOL.  a.  2  II 


242  Fropagation  of  Christianity 

man,  who  had  for  several  years  possessed  sufficient  light  to 
discern  the  falsehood  of  Mahommedanism  and  the  excellen- 
cy of  Christianity,  but  yet  was  held  fast  by  the  cords  of  ini- 
quity to  his  own  destruction.* 

But  though  none  of  this  sect  appear  to  have  embraced  the 
gospel,  there  was  a  number  of  persons  from  the  district  of 
Jessore,  who  were  baptized  at  Serampore.  These,  on  ac- 
count of  their  distance  from  that  place,  were  early  formed 
into  a  distinct  church,  and  were  visited  monthly  by  one  of 
the  native  itinerants,  who  preached  the  gospel,  and  adminis- 
tered the  Lord's  Supper  among  them.  At  length  in  Octo- 
ber 1808,  Carapeit  Chator  Aratoon,  an  Armenian  Christian, 
who  had  joined  the  church  at  Serampore,  was  sent  into  that 
part  of  the  country,  in  order  to  take  a  more  immediate  over- 
sight of  the  native  converts,  who  were  scattered  through 
different  villages,  as  well  as  to  preach  the  gospel  among  the 
other  inhabitants.  Here  he  appears  to  have  laboured  with 
unwearied  diligence,  and  it  is  said  with  great  success.  The 
church  in  Jessore  consisted  of  four  different  branches,  about 
thirty  miles  distant  from  each  other,  the  whole  comprehend- 
ing an  extent  of  country  little  less  than  a  hundred  miles  in 
diameter.  Partly  to  relieve  the  poor  members  from  travel- 
ling, partly  to  extend  the  gospel  more  widely,  he  went  this 
circuit  every  month,  preaching  and  administering  the  Lord's 
Supper  at  one  of  the  branches  on  the  Sabbath,  and  then  in 
the  course  of  the  week  proceeding  to  the  next.  The  num- 
ber of  persons  whom  he  baptized  was  very  considerable; 
but  we  cannot  help  expressing  our  fears,  lest  he,  as  well  as 
some  others,  particularly  of  those  raised  up  in  India,  should 
admit  the  natives  to  baptism  on  too  slight  evidences  of  their 
Christianity.  Carapeit,  however,  has  lately  been  removed 
to  a  different  part  of  the  country,  and  has  been  succeeded 
by  another  of  the  converts. f 

Dig  AH,  near  Patna. — About  the  end  of  1809,  Mr.  Moore 

•  Period,  Accounts,  vol.  lii.  p.  319. 

t  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  348,  410,  540;  vol.  v.  p.  105. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  243 

was  sent  to  form  a  missionary  settlement  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Patna.  He  accordingly  opened  a  school  in  that 
quarter,  and  a  number  of  scholars  attended  it.  Of  late,  the 
general  aspect  of  things  in  this  quarter  has  been  considera- 
bly more  encouraging  than  at  first.* 

Orissa. — In  1810,  Mr.  John  Peter,  an  Armenian  Chris- 
tian, who  had  joined  the  church  at  Serampore,  proceeded  to 
Orissa,  with  the  view  of  attempting  a  mission  in  that  coun- 
try. On  his  arrival  at  Balasore,  he  met  with  a  very  friendly 
reception  from  the  European  inhabitants  of  that  town;  and 
in  the  course  of  a  short  time,  he  baptized  a  number  of  the 
English  soldiers.  The  natives  were  at  first  curious  to  learn 
the  nature  of  his  design;  but  after  understanding  something 
of  the  gospel,  they  seemed  backward  to  hear  further  of  it. 
The  Holy  Scriptures,  however,  have  been  freely  distributed, 
and  the  gospel  has  been  preached  from  Balasore  to  Cuttack, 
a  distance  of  more  than  one  hundred  miles.  The  Scriptures 
have  obtained  admission  into  the  temple  of  Juggernaut  it- 
self, having  been  distributed  among  the  principal  persons 
belonging  to  that  celebrated  pagoda:  A  new  Testament  was 
given  to  one  of  the  chief  ministers  of  the  idol.  According 
to  the  last  account,  the  church  in  this  quarter  consisted  of 
upwards  of  thirty  members,  f 

Agra. — In  January  1811,  Mr.  Chamberlaine,  who  had 
for  several  years  laboured  at  Cutwa  with  considerable  suc- 
cess, set  off,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Peacock,  a  young  man 
who  had  lately  joined  the  church,  for  Agra,  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal cities  of  Hindostan.  The  journey  of  the  Ganges  was 
about  a  thousand  miles,  in  the  course  of  which  they  distri- 
buted many  hundred  tracts,  and  made  known  the  gospel  to 
multitudes  of  the  natives,  who  had  never  before  heard  of  the 
name  of  Christ.  On  their  arrival  at  Agra,  they  preached  in 
English  to  the  soldiers  in  a  private  house  in  the  fort,  and  the 
word  was  apparently  useful  to  several  of  them;  but,  after  a 

•  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iii.p.  415;  vol.  v.  p.  163. 
,t  Ibid.  vol..      p.  92;  vol.  v.  p.  118, 119. 


244  Propagation  of  Christianity 

short  time,  this  was  stopped  by  a  military  order.  They  also 
discoursed  with  the  natives  in  Hindostanee;  but  the  language 
of  this  part  of  the  country  was  materially  different  from  that 
dialect,  and  was  called  the  Hinduwee.  Mr.  Chamberlaine, 
whose  domestic  trials  were  already  so  numerous,  had  not 
been  long  in  this  quarter  when  he  lost  no  less  than  three  of 
his  children;  and  he  has  since  that  time  been  obliged  to  leave 
this  part  of  the  country.  Mr.  Peacock,  however,  still  remains 
in  that  city,  and  the  missionaries  at  Serampore  have  sent 
one  of  their  members,  of  the  name  of  Macintosh,  to  assist 
him.* 

C  A  L  c  u  T  T  A . — To  these  establishments  of  the  missionaries 
we  may  add  Calcutta,  which  has  now  become  one  of  their 
most  important  spheres  of  labour,  and  the  chief  scene  of 
their  success.  Since  their  arrival  in  India,  they  have  been 
highly  useful  to  many  of  the  English  inhabitants,  several  of 
them  persons  of  considerable  rank  in  life.  Some  of  these 
were  baptized  by  them;  but  a  still  greater  number  never 
embraced  their  views  on  the  subject  of  baptism,  and,  of 
course  do  not  appear  in  the  list  of  their  church  members. 
It  does  not  fall  within  my  design  particularly  to  notice  in- 
stances of  this  kind,  only  it  is  not  unworthy  of  remark,  that 
the  conversion  of  Europeans  must,  in  various  ways,  prove  a 
powerful  mean  of  the  further  extension  of  Christianity  among 
the  natives.  In  Calcutta,  especially,  there  has  been  a  re- 
markable improvement  in  respect  of  religion,  partly  in  con- 
sequence of  the  labours  of  the  Baptist,  and  partly  through 
the  instrumentality  of  some  Evangelical  clergymen  of  the 
Church  of  England,  who  have  been  settled  in  that  city. 
Some  years  ago,  when  the  missionaries  first  met  for  prayer  in 
that  large  and  populous  place,  only  three  or  four  attended; 
and  when  they  began  to  preach,  there  were  seldom  more 
than  ten.  Now,  however,  the  number  at  a  conference  often 
amounted  to  forty,  and  at  a  sermon  there  were  about  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty,  so  that  the  room  could  scarcely  contain  them. 

»  Tcriod.  Accoimts,  vol.  iv.  p.  271,416,  418,  46S;  vol  v.  p.  131. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  '2.AS 

A  large  and  spacious  chapel,  seventy  feet  square,  including 
the  portico,  was  therefore  erected  in  that  city;  and  though 
the  expense  was  upwards  of  thirty  thousand  rupees,  or  about 
four  thousand  pounds  sterling,  the  greater  part  of  it  was 
raised  by  private  subscription.  It  was  opened  for  divine 
worship  on  the  first  of  Januar}^,  1809;  and  soon  after,  the 
members  of  the  church  began  a  charity  school,  which  in  a 
short  time  was  attended  by  a  considerable  number  of  boys. 
A  second  school  was  afterwards  instituted  for  girls,  under 
the  superintendence  of  a  very  pious  woman.  This  institu- 
tion met  with  considerable  encouragement  from  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Calcutta,  and  was  conducted  on  Dr.  Bell's  plan  as 
improved  by  Mr.  Lancaster.  The  number  of  children  who 
attended  these  schools,  according  to  the  last  accounts,  was 
four  hundred  and  twenty,  five;  namely,  three  hundred  and 
eighteen  boys,  and  one  hundred  and  seven  girls;  and  a 
school  house  has  been  erected  near  the  chapel,  which  will 
contain  eight  hundred  children.  Indeed,  though  infidelity 
had  now  arrived  at  a  terrible  height  in  Calcutta,  yet  religion 
excited  so  much  interest  and  attention,  that  it  was  the  sub- 
ject of  conversation  or  of  dispute  in  almost  every  family:  a 
circumstance  which  we  hope  will  be  attended  with  good 
effects.* 

But  the  progress  of  the  gospel  in  Calcutta  was  by  no  means 
confined  to  the  European  inhabitants.  Kristno,  the  first  of 
the  converts,  was  now  fixed  as  a  preacher  in  this  city,  and 
was  particularly  useful  among  his  own  countrymen.  His 
whole  soul  was  in  the  work,  and  his  amiable  upright  conduct 
commanded  the  esteem  of  many  who  loved  not  his  religion. 
Besides  preaching  to  the  debtors  in  the  jail,  and  to  the  thieves 
in  the  house  of  correction,  he  made  known  the  gospel  in  a 
great  number  of  private  families,  which  he  visited  for  this 
purpose  every  week.  He  spared  no  labour;  he  shunned  no 
fatigue,  but  flew  like  a  seraph  wherever  duty  called  him. 
Sebukram,  another  of  the  converts,  was  also  a  very  zealous 

*  Periodical  Accounts,  vol.  iii.  p.  407;  vol.  iv.  p.  327,  349,  366;  vol.  v.  p,  1.51. 


246  Propagation  of  Christianity 

and  active  labourer  in  Calcutta.  He  often  preached  nearly 
from  morning  till  night  among  his  poor  benighted  country- 
men. There  were  no  less  than  twelve  or  fourteen  places 
where  he  dispensed  the  xi^ord  every  week,  and  at  some  of 
them  he  had  considerable  congregations.  Besides  preaching 
at  the  chapel  in  Loll  Bazar,  the  missionaries  held  meetings 
in  the  fort,  which  were  usually  attended  by  not  less  than  a 
hundred,  chiefly  of  the  military  and  their  wives,  many  of 
whom  were  native  women,  and  appeared  to  embrace  the 
gospel.  Here,  however,  they  have  met  with  considerable 
opposition.  Their  meetings  have  been  repeatedly  interrup- 
ted, and  of  late  they  have  been  entirely  prohibited;  but  it  ap- 
pears that  the  native  preachers  are  still  permitted  to  visit  the 
fort.* 

Such  is  a  brief  view  of  the  several  stations  which  the  Bap- 
list  missionaries  have  established  in  India.  Besides  these, 
indeed,  they  have  of  late  sent  missionaries  to  Patna,  to 
Bombay,  to  Columbo  in  the  island  of  Ceylon,  and  to  Chitta- 
gong,  a  place  in  the  east  of  Bengal,  near  the  borders  of  the 
Burman  empire;  and  it  appears  that  some  other  stations 
were  in  contemplation.! 

To  this  account,  it  may  not  be  improper  to  add  a  list  of 
the  numbers  baptized  in  the  different  years,  since  the  com- 
mencement of  the  mission,  distinguishing  the  natives  from 
the  Europeans,  Armenians,  Portuguese,  »^:c.  most  of  whom 
we  suppose,  were  previously  professed  Christians: 

«  Periodical  Accounts,  vol.  iii.  p.  55':^;  vol,  iv.  p.  218,  238,  323,  353,  234,  331, 
3r)5,  361. 

t  Ibid.  vol.  V.  p.  1~5. 


ly  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society. 


24' 


Years. 

Natives. 

Europeans^  ^c. 

Total 

1 

1795 

1 

1800 

1 

2 

1801 

5 

6 

1802 

7 

9 

1803 

13 

14 

1804 

14 

15 

1805 

29 

33 

1806 

24 

25 

1807 

9 

11 

20 

1808 

7 

13 

20 

1809 

30 

50 

80 

1810 

— 

— 

105 

1811 

95 

Total 

426t 

Among  the  baptized,  were  a  number  of  Brahmins,  and 
others  of  the  higher  casts.  Some  have  died  in  the  faith; 
some  have  been  excluded  on  account  of  impropriety  in  their 
behaviour,  though  most  of  these  have  been  again  restored; 
and  some,  we  regret  to  add,  have  relapsed  into  Paganism, 
and  that,  in  some  instances,  not  long  after  their  baptism. 
But  yet  the  greater  part  of  them  adhere  steadfastly  to  their 
Christian  profession,  and  though  it  cannot  be  denied  they 
have  many  imperfections,  yet  their  character  has  been  mate- 
rially improved  by  the  gospel,  and  is  in  many  respects  orna- 
mental to  it.  J 

With  regard  to  the  progress  which  the  missionaries  have 
made  in  translating  the  Holy  Scriptures  into  the  languages 
of  the  East,  the  following  Table  will  exhibit  a  view  of  the 
several  versions  in  August  1811: 


f  Brief  Narrative,  p.  92.     Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iv.  p.  367- 
♦  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  I'v.  p.  468,  et  passim. 


248 


Propagation  of  Christianity 


LANGUAGES. 

NEW  TESTAMENT. 

OLD  TESTAMENT. 

Sungskrit, 

Printed. 

Pentateuch  printed; 
historical  books  in 
the  press,  andtrans- 
lated  to  1st  of  Kings. 

Bengalee, 

Third  edition  printed. 

The  whole  distribut- 
ing; 2^  edition  of  the 
Pentateuch  in  press. 

Orissa, 

Printed  and  distribu- 
ting. 

The  Hagiographa,  & 
prophetic  books, 
printed;  historical 
books  in  the  press. 

Hindostanee, 

Printed  and  distribu- 
ting. 

All  translated,  except 
a  book  or  two  of  the 
Pentateuch. 

Mahratta, 

Printed  and  distribu- 
ting. 

Pentateuch  and  Hagi- 
ographa translated; 
Pentateuch  in  press; 
Genesis  printed. 

Chinese, 

All  translated,  two  first;  Pentateuch  translated 
gospels  printed;  the     to  the  4th  of  Num- 
others  at  press.              bers. 

j  Shikh, 

1 

All  translated,  printed 
to  Mark. 

Pentateuch  translating, 
Numbers  in  hand. 

Teiinga, 

All  translated,  at  press. 

Pentateuch  translated. 

Kurnata, 

At  press. 

Pentateuch  translated 
to  Deuteronomy. 

Guzzerattee, 

All  translated. 

Barman, 

Matthew  &  Mark  pre- 
paring  for  the  press. 

Cashmire, 

Mark  translating. 

Magnda, 

Commencing. 

* 

Rep.  Br.  Sc  For.  Bib.  Soc.  1812.  App.  p.  76.  Period.  Ace.  vol.  iv.  p.  244. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  249 

Besides  these  versions  made  by  the  Baptist  missionaries 
themselves,  they  have  been  employed  to  print  large  editions 
of  the  New  Testament,  in  the  Tamul,  the  Cingalese,  and 
the  M'!;iyalim  languages;  and  also  an  impression  of  the  New 
Testament  in  Hindostanee,  translated  by  Mahommed  AH, 
commonly  called  Mirza  Fitrut,  under  the*  superintendence 
of  ihe  late  Rev.  Henry  Martyn  of  Cawnpore,  a  clergyman 
of  the  Church  of  England;  of  the  four  gospels,  translated 
from  Greek  into  Persic,  by  the  Rev.  L.  Sebastiani,  who  was 
many  years  resident  at  the  court  of  Persia;  and  of  the  three 
first  gospels  in  Telinga,  by  the  late  Rev.  Augustus  Des- 
granges,  a  missionary  at  Vizigapatnam.  Through  the  skill 
and  disinterestedness  of  the  Baptist  missionaries,  the  printing 
of  books  in  the  Oriental  languages  can  be  executed  at  Se- 
rampore,  on  much  lower  terms  than  at  any  press  in  India, 
or  even  in. Europe.* 

Besides  the  translations  of  the  Scriptures,  and  a  variety 
of  tracts,  both  in  English  and  in  the  eastern  languages,  some 
of  which  have  passed  through  large  and  numerous  editions, 
the^ip  \ittvQ  issued  from  the  mission  press  at  Serampore,  many 
other  works  of  a  literary  nature,  which  form  a  stupendous 
monument  of  the  talents,  the  diligence,  and  the  zeal  of  the 
missionaries,  and  which  will  be  of  essential  service  to  their 
successors,  in  learning  the  languages,  the  principles,  and  the 
manners  of  the  natives,  and  thus  may  be  of  important  use  in 
furthering  the  gospel  in  the  East.  The  following  is  a  list 
of  the  principal  works  of  this  description,  which  have  been 
written  or  printed  by  them: 

SUNGSKRIT. 

A  Grammar  of  the  Sungskrit  Language,  by  William  Carey, 
D.  D.  1163  pages,  quarto,  price  eight  guineas. 

A  Dictionary  of  the  Sungskrit  Language,  by  Umara  Singha, 
with  a  Translation  and  Annotations,  by  H.  T.  Colebrooke, 
Esq.  150  pages,  quarto. 

♦  Report  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  1812,  p.  12,  14.     Appendix,  p.  75, 
VOL.  u.  2  I 


250  Propagatmi  of  Christianity 

Hitopudesha  Dusha  Koomara,  and  Bhurtri  Hiiri,  in  the 
Sungskrit  Character,  with  an  introductory  Discourse,  by 
H.  T.  Colebrooke,  Esq.  286  pages,  quarto. 

The  Ramayuna,  in  the  Sungskrit  Character,  with  an  English 
Translation  and  Notes,  illustrative  of  the  Poem,  by  Wil- 
liam Carey,  D.  D.  and  Joshua  Marshman,  D.  D.  quarto, 
vols.  1,  2,  3,  five  guineas  each. 

The  Moogdhubodha,  octavo. 

BENGALEE. 

A  Grammar  of  the  Bengalee  Language,  for  the  use  of  the 
Students  in  the  College  of  Fort  William,  by  William  Ca- 
rey, D.  D.  second  edition,  octavo. 

Colloquies,  Bengalee  and  English,  second  edition,   octavo, 

Hitopudesha,  or  Salutary  Counsels,  second  edition,  octavo, 

Butrisha  Singhasuna,  or  the  Throne  with  thirty-two  Images, 
second  edition,  octavo. 

Toota  Nameh,  or  the  Tales  of  a  Parrot,  octavo. 

The  first  Book  of  the  Muhabharuta,  in  four  volumes,  duode- 
cimo. g|  ^ 

The  Ramayuna,  in  six  volumes,  duodecimo. 

Lippi  Mala,  or  the  Bracelet  of  Writing,  octavo. 

The  History  of  Raja  Chundra  Raya,  containing  his  Corres- 
pondence with  the  English  Government,  after  the  Battle 
of  Plassey,  octavo. 

The  Life  of  Raja  Pretapaditys,  octavo. 

MAIIRATTA. 

A  Grammar  of  the  Mahratta  Language,  for  the  use  of  the 
Students  in  the  College  of  Fort  William,  by  William  Ca, 
rey,  D.  D.  octavo,  second  edition. 

A  Dictionary  of  the  Mahratta  Language. 

CHINESE. 

The  Works  of  Confucius,  containing  die  original  Text, 
with  a  Translation,  to  which  is  prefixed  a  Dissertation  on 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  251 

the  Chinese  Language  and  Character,  by  Joshua  Marsh- 
man,  D.  D.  quarto,  volume  1st.  price  five  guineas. 

ENGLISH. 

Account  of  the  Religion,  Manners,  and  Customs  of  the  Hin- 
doos, in  four  volumes  quarto,  by  William  Ward. 

Ramayuna,  Translated  into  English,  with  Explanatory 
Notes,  octavo,  volumes  1st  and  2nd.* 

In  publishing  some  of  these  works,  the  missionaries  were 
patronized  by  the  i\siatic  Society,  and  the  college  of  Fort 
William,  who,  for  several  years  past,  have  granted  them  an 
annual  salary  of  450/.  to  assist  them  in  defraying  the  expense 
of  printing  the  original  text  of  the  most  ancient  Sungskrit 
writings,  particularly  the  Vedas,  with  an  English  translation 
of  them.f 

Such  were  the  astonishing  exertions  of  the  Baptist  mis- 
sionaries, when  an  event  occurred  which  retarded  for  some 
time  their  further  progress.  On  the  1 1th  of  March  1812,  about 
six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  a  fire  was  discovered  in  the  print- 
ing oifice  at  Serampore,  in  a  large  range  of  shelves,  con- 
taining English,  Patna,  and  other  paper.  At  the  time  it 
was  perceived,  there  were  only  one  or  two  servants  remain- 
ing in  the  printing  office.  Mr.  Ward,  who  was  in  an  ad- 
joining room,  immediately  ran  to  the  spot  where  the  fire  was 
burning,  and  called  for  water  to  quench  it;  but  the  flames 
had  already  reached  the  middle  of  the  shelves,  and  resisted 
all  the  efforts  that  could  now  be  made  by  the  people  who 
were  at  hand.  In  a  few  minutes  the  office  was  so  filled  with 
?;mokc,  that  Mr.  Ward  was  almost  suffocated  in  endeavour- 
ing to  get  out,  and  one  of  the  servants  who  was  with  him,  ac- 
tually fell  down  senseless  before  he  could  reach  the  door, 
and  Avas  saved  from  death  only  by   being  dragged  into  the 

•  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iv.  p.  112-  ^Missionary  .Magazine,  vol.  xi.  3S3. 
t  Uc'lig-i'jiis  Monitor,  vol.  iv,  p.  277. 


252  Propagation  of  Christianity 

open  air.  All  the  window  shutters,  twenty-four  in  number, 
^\ ere  fastened  with  iron  l)ars,  placed  across,  and  pinned  with- 
in, so  that  it  was  extremely  difficult  to  force  them  open. 
They  Avere  advised,  indeed,  to  keep  all  the  doors  and  win- 
dows shut,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  smother  the  flames;  but 
yet  Mr.  Ward  ascended  the  roof,  pierced  it  above  the  place 
where  the  fire  was  raging,  and  poured  in  water  in  great  abun- 
dance. This  plan  so  far  succeeded,  that  four  hours  after 
the  fire  commenced,  it  was  confined  to  the  shelves  beneath 
\\liere  it  original!}^  began,  and  even  there  it  was  greatly  di- 
minished, 'i'he  quantity  of  water  which  was  thrown  in 
where  it  was  practicable,  was  very  great.  In  the  adjoining 
press-room,  the  w^ater  was  as  high  as  the  ankles,  and  the 
steam  and  smoke  which  filled  the  office  were  so  thick,  that 
a  candle  would  not  burn  in  it,  even  for  a  few  seconds.  The 
heat  was  so  intense,  that  it  was  impossible  for  a  person  to 
remain  a  moment  within  the  walls.  Some,  at  this  time,  vi- 
olently urged  the  opening  of  all  the  windows;  but  as  it  would 
have  taken  hours  to  do  this,  so  as  to  get  out  the  tables,  frames 
for  the  cases,  and  other  utensils,  and  as  the  opening  of  only 
one  or  two  would  have  given  fresh  vigour  to  the  flames, 
which  w^ere  now  languid  and  confined  to  the  lower  part  of 
the  office,  and  would  even  endanger  the  whole  of  the  adjoin- 
ing buildings,  they  objected  to  it.  This,  however,  did  not 
prevent  some  injudicious  but  well-meaning  friends  from 
breaking  open  one  of  the  windows,  opposite  the  fire,  W'hile 
Messrs.  Marshman  and  Ward  were  busy  in  other  places.  In 
a  {qw  minutes,  Mr.  Marshman  discerned  through  the  cloud 
of  steam  and  smoke,  a  flake  of  fire  blown  into  the  middle  of 
the  office.  He  instantly  conveyed  the  alarming  intelligence 
to  Mr.  Ward,  who  was  superintending  the  pouring  of  water 
through  the  roof  on  the  shelves.  Mr.  Ward  now  ran  to  the 
room  at  the  entrance  of  the  office,  and  the  most  remote  froni 
the  fire,  and  by  the  active  assistance  of  several  European 
friends,  cut  open  two  windows,  and  dragged  out  his  writing 
table,  ■\^'hich  contained  the  deeds  of  the  premises,  as  well  as 


hy  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  253 

many  other  valuable  writings;  and  going  from  thence  to  the 
opposite  room,  he  cut  open  the  windows  there  also,   and 
dragged  out  the  inclosed  shelves,  containing  their  accompts 
from  the  beginning  of  the  mission.     This  last  attempt  was 
made  in  the  very  face  of  the  fire,  and  before  it  was  fully  ac- 
complished, the  whole  building,  two  hundred  feet  in  length, 
by  forty  in  breadth,   was  in  flames.     About  midnight  the 
roof  fell  in.     Every  exertion  was  made  to  prevent  the  flames 
from  spreading  to  the  adjoining  buildings,  and  though  some 
of  them  were  not  more  than  twelve  feet  from  the  office,  yet 
happily  they  escaped  the  conflagration.     The  wind,  which 
blew  pretty  hard  an  hour  or  two  before,  being  now  calm,  the 
fire  ascended  in  a  straight  line,  like  the  flame  of  a  candle  on 
a  table,  and  happily  terminated  with  the  printing  office,  with- 
out any  life  being  lost,  or  any  person  materially  injured.  Af- 
ter it  was  evident  that  it  would  spread  no  further,  all  the 
members  of  the  mission  family,  old  and  young,  sat  down  in 
front  of  the  office,  and  continued  till  near  two  in  the  morn- 
ing,   pouring  their  griefs  into  each  other's  bosom.     But 
though  the  danger  was  now  over,  the  fire  continued  burning 
among  the  ruins  for  nearly  two  days.*" 

The  loss  which  the  missionaries  sustained  by  the  fire  \vas 
immense,  whether  we  consider  the  nature  or  the  value  of 
the  articles  that  were  destroyed.  To  enumerate  them  would 
be  endless,  but  we  may  mention  among  many  others,  the 
whole  furniture  of  the  printing  office;  founts  of  types  in  fif- 
teen or  sixteen  different  languages;  all  the  cases,  frames  and 
other  utensils  which  accompanied  them;  about  fifteen  hun- 
dred reams  of  paper;  upwards  of  fifty-five  thousand  sheets 
printed  oflP  but  not  folded;  a  considerable  number  of  books 
printed  by  them;  and  some  other  books,  to  the  amount  of 
five  thousand  rupees;  manuscripts  to  the  value  of  seven  thou- 
sand rupees,  among  which  were  a  Sungskrit  dictionary,  in 
five  folio  volumes;  all  the  materials  for  a  Polyglot  dictionary, 

•  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iv.  p.  497.  452. 


254  Propagation  of  Christianity 

of  the  languages  derived  from  the  Sungskrit,  in  collecting 
which,  Dr.  Carey  had  been  employed  for  many  years;  part 
of  a  Bengalee  dictionary;  the  whole  of  a  Telinga  grammar; 
part  of  a  grammar  of  the  Shikh  language;  three  valuable 
manuscript  copies  of  the  text  of  the  Ramayuna;  and  as  much 
of  the  translation  of  that  work  as  had  cost  Dr.  Carey  and 
Mr.  Marshman  a  whole  year  to  prepare  for  the  press;  part 
of  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures  in  several  languages;  and 
the  whole  correspondence  of  the  missionaries  so  far  as  it  was 
preserved  from  the  commencement  of  their  labours.  The 
building  was  estimated  to  be  worth  about  eight-thousand 
rupees,  and  the  whole  loss  amounted  to  at  least  sixty  thou- 
sand, or  7500/.  sterling,  exclusive  of  the  paper  belonging  to 
others.* 

Such  was  the  immense  loss  which  the  missionaries  sus- 
tained by  this  terrible  disaster;  but  yet  in  the  midst  of  judg- 
ment, they  had  also  to  sing  of  mercy.  Though  the  door 
which  divided  the  press-room  from  the  other  part  of  the 
printing  office  was  burnt,  and  the  beams  of  the  press-room 
scorched,  yet  such  was  the  activity  of  the  people  in  pulling 
out  the  presses,  that  they  were  all  saved.  A  paper  mill  also, 
with  the  matrices,  moulds,  and  apparatus  for  type-founding, 
were  in  a  place  adjoining  the  printing  office,  which  the  fire 
did  not  enter,  and  thus  they  were  happily  preserved.  In 
clearing  away  the  ruins,  the  missionaries,  to  their  inexpres- 
sible joy,  found  uninjured  among  them,  the  steel  punches 
of  all  the  Oriental  languages,  to  the  amount  of  four  thousand, 
to  replace  which,  would  have  occasioned  a  delay  of  six 
years.  About  eight  thousand  pounds  of  metal  were  also 
dug  out  of  the  ruins,  and  thus  they  were  enabled  to  begin 
immediately  the  re-casting  of  the  types  in  the  different  lan- 
guages, t 

On  the  second  day  after  the  fire,  the  missionaries,  with 
that  energy  and  zeal  for  which  they  are  so  distinguished,  set 

*  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iv.  p.  465,  502,  518. 
t  Ibid.  vol.  iv.  p.  465,  500. 


by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  255 

the  type-founders  and  pundits  to  work  in  a  large  building, 
which  had  been  let  for  several  years,  and  the  keys  of  which 
had  been  given  up  only  a  few  days  before.  The  casting  of 
types  was  resumed  in  a  lortnight  after  the  fire;  and  in  the 
course  of  a  few  months,  no  fewer  than  eight  of  the  versions 
were  again  in  the  press.  As  soon  as  the  disaster  was  known 
in  Britain,  the  most  liberal  contributions  were  made  to  re- 
pair the  loss.  The  whole  sum  amounted  to  no  less  than 
10,611/. :  1 :  11,  which  is  said  to  have  been  raised  in  about 
seven  or  eight  weeks  after  the  news  of  the  loss  were  receiv- 
ed; a  striking  proof  of  the  deep  interest  which  the  Christian 
public  take  in  this  important  mission,  A  considerable  sum 
v/as  likewise  raised  in  Bengal;  and  it  appears  that  fifteen 
hundred  pounds  have  lately  been  transmitted  from  America, 
for  the  same  purpose;  to  which  we  may  add,  that  a  con- 
siderable  quantity  of  paper  was  voted  by  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society,  to  repair  the  loss  of  that  valuable  ar- 
ticle. Besides  proceeding  with  the  versions  in  which  they 
were  formerly  engaged,  the  missionaries  have  lately  begun 
translations  into  several  other  dialects,  namely,  the  Assam, 
the  Affghan,  the  Nepalesc,  the  Bilochee,  the  Maldivian,  and 
the  Brij  Bhasha.  Their  progress,  however,  in  actual  trans- 
lation, has  not  of  late  been  very  great,  as  they  have  been 
chiefly  employed  in  revising  the  versions  already  made,  and 
in  completing  elementary  works  in  several  of  the  Eastern 
languages.  *" 

•  Period  Accounts,  vol.  iv.  p.  466,  502,  517,  518,  533,  550;  vol.  v.  p.  :i9,  61,  89, 
^ieport  of  the  Kdiuljurj^h  liil^le  Society,  1813,  p.  4. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY  BY  THE  LONDON 
MISSIONARY  SOCIETY. 


SECTIOjY  I. 

South  Sea  Islands. 

IN  September  1795,  an  institution  was  formed  in  Lon- 
don, on  a  large  and  respectable  scale,  for  the  propagation  of 
the  gospel  among  the  Heathen,  under  the  name  of  The 
Missionary  Society.  It  consisted  of  Christians  of  va- 
rious denominations,  who  came  forward  in  this  great  cause 
with  a  unanimity  and  a  zeal  never  before  witnessed  in  mo- 
dern ages.  The  flame  kindled  in  the  metropolis,  quickly- 
spread  over  the  whole  country;  it  extended  even  to  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe  and  the  shores  of  America.  The  institu- 
tion of  the  Missionary  Society  was  ever)^  where  hailed  as  a 
new  era  in  the  history  of  the  Christian  world.* 

Scarcely  was  the  Missionary  Society  instituted,  when  it 
turned  its  attention  to  the  islands  of  the  South  Sea.  The 
voyages  of  discovery  made  by  order  of  his  majesty  George 
the  Third,  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  had  brought  to  light  innu- 
merable groups  of  islands  before  unknown;  but  as  they  af- 
forded little  to  excite  the  ambition  of  princes,  or  the  avarice 
of  merchants,  they  were  again  sinking  into  oblivion,  and 
were  ready  to  be  abandoned  in  that  state  of  ignorance  and 

*  Sei-mons  preached  at  the  Formation  of  the  Missionary  Society,   Introduction, 
p.  3.    Transactions  of  the  Missionary  Society,  vol.  i.  Introduction,  p.  14. 


Propagation  of  Christianity^  bV.  257 

barbarism  in  which  they  were  originally  discovered.*  Im- 
mediately, however,  on  the  formation  of  the  Missionary 
Society,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Haweis,  rector  of  Aldwinkle,  in 
Northamptonshire,  delivered  before  them  an  interesting  and 
animating  memoir  on  the  most  eligible  situation  for  the 
commencement  of  their  operations;  and  in  this  discourse  he 
drew  the  following  enchanting  picture  of  the  islands  of  the 
Paciiic  Ocean: 

"Of  all  the  regions  of  the  earth  which  are  yet  in  Heathen 
darkness,  the  South  Sea  Islands  appear  to  combine  the 
greatest  prospects  of  success,  with  the  least  difficulties  to  be 
necessarily  surmounted. 

The  climate  is  sufficiently  known.  I  am  afraid  to  speak 
what  is  recorded  concerning  it,  lest  some  should  think  I  was 
painting  a  fairy  land,  a  new  garden  of  the  Hesperides.  Suf- 
fice it  therefore  to  say,  what  is  universally  admitted,  that  the 
cold  of  winter  is  never  known;  the  trees  scarcely  ever  lose 
their  leaves,  and  during  the  greater  part  of  the  year  bear 
fruit:  The  heat,  though  a  tropical  country,  is  always  allevi- 
ated by  alternate  breezes,  whilst  the  natives  sit  under  the 
shade  of  odoriferous  groves,  loaded  with  abundance  of  fruit: 
The  sky  is  serene,  the  nights  are  beautiful,  and  the  sea  is 
ever  offisring  inexhaustible  stores  of  food,  in  easy  and  pleas- 
ing conveyance,  and  a  prospect  generally  admired. 

Diseases  which  ravage  us  are  there  unknown.  We  indeed 
have  added  fearfully  to  their  number;  yet  health  and  longe- 
\'ity  mark  the  inhabitants  in  general,  without  the  knowledge 
of  medicines  or  physicians.  If  the  frozen  regions  of  the 
north,  or  the  sultry  humid  soil  of  Africa,  be  compared  with 
these  islands,  the  difference  in  respect  of  danger  is  immense, 
and  a  missionary's  life  abundantly  more  likely  to  be  preserv- 
ed in  the  one  than  in  the  other. 

Dependent  on  climate  is  the  facility  of  finding  provision. 
How  easily  that  can  be  obtained  in  these  islands,  you  need 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  Iiitroduct'ion,  p.  10. 

VOL.    IT.  2  K 


258  Propagation  of  Christianity 

only  read  the  concurrent  testimony  of  all  who  have  written 
on  the  subject;  and  if  they  want  our  luxuries,  the  necessa- 
ries of  life  will  not  much  engage  a  missionary's  time  or  care. 
With  the  science  he  carries,  and  the  arts  he  practises,  there 
is  little  reason  to  doubt,  that  with  a  slight  degree  of  attention, 
he  will  have  enough  and  to  spare.  This  circumstance  is  as 
advantageous  for  the  work  as  for  the  missionaries  themselves. 
The  natives,  not  harassed  by  labour  for  their  daily  bread, 
nor  worked  as  slaves  under  the  lash  of  the  whip,  are  always 
sure  to  have  abundance  of  time  for  receiving  instruction. 
We  have  not,  as  our  Brethren  the  Moravians,  to  follow  them 
into  the  lonely  w  ilds  of  a  desert  in  their  hunting  expeditions, 
or  over  the  fields  of  ice  in  winter,  few  at  best,  and  widely 
scattered.  Here  every  man  sitting  under  his  cocoa  or  bread- 
fruit tree,  is  at  hand;  and  the  very  sound  of  a  hammer,  a  saw, 
or  a  smith's  bellows,  will  hardly  ever  fail  to  attract  an  au- 
dience. Two  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  are  reckoned 
on  the  small  island  of  Otaheite  alone;  all  ranged  round  its 
beautiful  shores,  and  accessible  by  a  thousand  canoes,  with 
a  facility  which  no  road  could  ever  afford.  I  need  not  say 
the  "multitude  of  the  isles  will  be  glad  thereof."  The 
amount  of  them  hath  never  yet  been  ascertained.  We  have 
discovered  many,  but  probably  much  greater  numbers  are 
still  unknown,  which  spot  the  bosom  of  the  Pacific  Ocean 
on  both  sides  of  the  line,  from  New  South  Wales  to  the 
coast  of  Peru.  But  I  am  only  giving  a  sketch,  not  a 
history. 

I  hardly  know  how  to  mention  the  government,  with 
which  we  are  not,  perhaps,  perfectly  acquainted.  It  seems 
monarchical,  but  of  the  mildest  kind,  with  little  authority; 
controulcd,  it  appears,  by  powerful  vassals,  each  supreme 
in  his  own  district,  but  with  no  written  law,  nor  the  use  of 
letters,  and  presents  a  sort  of  patriarchal  state,  where  the 
disorders  are  so  i^w^  that  the  arm  of  authority  is  but  seldom 
exerted.  Here,  so  far  from  having  any  thing  to  fear,  some 
have  attempted,  at  the  hazard  of  their  lives,  to  obtain  a  re- 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society,  259 

treat,  by  swimming  naked  from  our  ships;  and  some  have 
determined  to  make  it  their  home,  by  a  conspiracy,  brought 
on  by  no  disgust  or  dislike  to  their  captain  or  the  service, 
but  merely  ])y  the  fascinations  of  beauty,  and  the  allurements 
of  the  country. 

In  the  uncivilized  state  in  which  the  inhabitants  of  Otaheite 
and  the  neighbouring  islands  live,  our  superiority  in  know- 
ledge, and  what  they  will  at  first  be  more  struck  with,  in  the 
mechanic  arts  we  bring,  will  probably  gain  us  such  respect, 
that  without  receiving  a  sacrifice  as  to  the  Eatoa,  such  as 
was  offered  to  Cook,  we  shall  enjoy  sufficient  importance 
with  the  highest  as  well  as  the  lowest  of  the  people;  that  we 
have  more  to  apprehend  from  being  caressed  and  exalted, 
than  from  being  insulted  and  oppressed.  It  is  a  beautiful 
French  proverb,  the  force  of  which  will  be  felt  in  this  case 
by  every  reflecting  mind,  "  In  the  country  of  the  blind,  he 
who  hath  but  one  eye  will  be  monarch." 

With  regard  to  their  religious  prejudices,  no  nation  on  earth, 
I  believe,  will  be  found  without  some  traditionary  traces  of 
revelation:  every  guilty  creature  feels  the  necessity  of  an 
atonement  in  some  shape  or  other.  The  South  Sea  Islanders, 
accordingly,  have  their  victims  and  their  gods.  We  are  but 
little  acquainted  with  them;  but  the  little  we  do  know,  af- 
fords the  strongest  evidence  that  their  priests,  if  there  are 
such,  are  not  invested  with  any  persecuting  power,  nor  can 
the  people  be  averse  to  hear  us  on  the  subject  of  religion, 
since  they  reverence  us  as  their  superiors  almost  on  every 
other.  Indeed,  the  very  slight  information  which  we  have 
obtained  concerning  the  service  of  their  morals,  seem  strong- 
ly to  imply  the  doctrine  of  a  future  state  of  existence,  and 
the  necessity  of  pacifying,  as  well  as  pleasing,  an  offended 
God. 

As  to  their  language,  I  have  a  vocabulary  formed  of  all 
the  words  dispersed  through  the  vo}'ages  which  have  been 
published;  and  if  I  may  judge  from  its  vocal  structure,  it  is 
of  no  difficult  attainment.     I  am  assured  a  corporal  of  ma- 


260  Propagation  of  ChrMwiity 

rines,  after  three  months  stay  on  the  island  of  Otaheite, 
spoke  it  fluently.  If  any  Englishman  be  there;  or  on  the 
adjacent  islands,  they  must  by  this  time  be  perfectly  ac- 
quainted with  it.  Such  may  become  our  instructors  or  in- 
terpreters, and  with  a  little  application,  I  hope,  our  missiona- 
ries will  need  neither. 

The  vast  extent  of  the  same  language  is  also  an  important 
article  in  our  favour.  Through  the  inmiense  field  of  these 
scattered  islands,  the  same  language,  with  little  variation,  is 
spoken.  At  least,  the  radical  part  of  it  is  so  much  the  same, 
that  Tupia,  who  sailed  with  Cook,  and  died  at  Batavia,  was 
always  able  to  converse  with  the  natives  of  the  different 
islands  at  which  they  touched;  and  I  think  it  was  said  in  one 
history,  that  the  difference  of  dialects  appeared  no  greater 
than  what  exists  in  the  several  counties  of  so  small  a  coun- 
try as  England. 

I  shall  suggest  only  one  advantage  more,  among  a  multi- 
tude that  might  be  named:  We  shall  here  have  no  false 
Christianity  to  oppose  its  life  and  spirit;  none  of  those  dis- 
putes which,  even  among  real  Christians,  tend  greatly  to  ob- 
struct the  work  of  God.  We  have  a  field  wholly  uncultivat- 
ed, but  the  soil  is  fit  for  seed,  and  the  climate  genial;  and 
coming  first,  we  have  every  thing  in  our  favour,  and  may, 
without  dispute  or  opposition,  inculcate  the  true  knowledge 
of  God  our  Saviour.  From  the  king  on  the  throne,  to  the 
infant  of  a  year  old,  I  should  not  be  surprised  to  see  our 
schools  thronged,  and  our  worship  attended  We  know 
that  he  only  who  made  the  heart  can  renew  it.  We  are  sure 
that  the  residue  of  the  Spirit  is  with  him;  and  he  hath  pro- 
mised to  be  "  with  us  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world."  With  such  divine  encouragement,  What  may  we 
not  hope  for?"* 

Dazzled  by  this  pleasing  but  imaginary  picture,  the  Mis- 
sionary Society  resolved,  without  farther  delay,  to  commence 
its  operations  by  a  mission  to  the  South  Sea  Islands.    With 

•  Sermons  at  the  Formation  of  the  Missionary  Society,  p.  168. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society »  261 

this  view  they  began  to  raise  subscriptions,  which  poured  in 
upon  them  from  every  quarter  of  the  country;  to  examine 
and  select  missionaries,  who  came  forward  with  alacrity  and 
zeal  to  offer  their  services;  and  to  make  preparations  for 
their  distant  voyage,  and  their  settlement  in  the  places  of 
their  destination.  These,  and  innumerable  other  circum- 
stances, which  it  is  needless  to  notice,  required  no  small  de- 
gree of  exertion;  but  every  difliculty  vanished  before  the 
energy  and  zeal  of  the  Missionary  Society.* 

In  August  1796,  twenty-nine  missionaries,  several  of 
whom  had  wives  and  children,  embarked  at  London  on  board 
the  Duff,  a  vessel  purchased  by  the  society,  and  commanded 
by  captain  James  Wilson,  a  gentleman  who  for  several  years 
past  had  retired  from  sea,  but  aa  ho  cheerfully  came  forward 
with  an  offer  of  his  services  on  this  interesting  occasion. 
They  were  detained  about  a  month  at  Portsmouth,  waiting 
on  the  convoy;  but  they  at  length  finally  sailed  from  Eng- 
land in  the  month  of  September;  and  after  an  agreeable  pas- 
sage of  about  seven  weeks,  arrived  at  Rio  Janeiro,  on  the 
coast  of  Brazil. t  Here  they  laid  in  such  stores  as  were 
deemed  necessary,  and  then  proceeded  on  their  voyage,  de- 
signing to  go  round  by  Cape  Horn;  but  they  now  met  with 
such  violent  contrary  gales,  that  the  captain  judged  it  expe- 
dient to  desist  from  the  attempt,  and  to  take  the  eastern  pas- 
sage, though  it  extended  the  remaining  part  of  the  voyage 
from  six  to  twelve  thousand  miles.  But  as  the  wind  was 
favourable,  they  sailed  forward  for  seven  weeks  together, 
without  any  material  obstruction,  at  the  rate  of  a  hundred 
and  eighty,  two  hundred,  and  sometimes  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty  miles,  in  twenty-four  hours.  When  they  came 
near  the  longitude  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  they  encoun- 
tered indeed,  a  most  awful  and  tremendous  storm.  The 
waves  rolled  mountain  high,  while  the  water  in  the  gulph 
between  them  was  as  smooth  as  a  peaceful  lake.    Now  they 

•  A  Missionary  Voyage  to  the  Southern  Pacific  Ocean,  1796,  1797,  1798,  p.  3. 
t  Ibid.  p.  5,  8,  18. 


262  Propagation  of  Christianitif 

mounted  up  to  heaven:  immediately  they  went  down  into 
the  deep.  When  they  sunk  into  the  gulf  between  the  billows, 
the  swell  of  the  sea  was  so  enormous,  that  the  wind  blew 
over  their  heads,  and  the  sails,  though  very  lofty,  were  com- 
pletely becalmed.  Then,  as  they  rose  on  the  following  wave, 
it  blew  such  a  hurricane  as  almost  to  carry  away  their  masts. 
In  this  manner  they  were  driven  along  for  four  successive 
days;  but  though  the  gale  was  so  tremendous,  they  were 
preserved  in  safety  by  Him  "  who  holdeth  the  winds  in  his 
fists,  and  treadeth  on  the  waves  of  the  sea."* 

As  they  approached  near  the  end  of  the  voyage,  the  mis- 
sionaries began  to  make  some  arrangements  for  their  settle- 
ment in  the  different  islands.  Most  of  them  made  choice  of 
Otaheite  as  the  scene  of  their  future  labours;  some  of  Ton- 
gataboo,  one  of  the  Friendly  islands;  and  two  of  St.  Chris- 
tina, one  of  the  Marquesas. f  Of  these  missions,  we  shall 
now  proceed  to  give  some  account,  beginning  with  that  to 
Otaheite. 


ARTICLE  L 

Otaheite. J 

IN  March  1797,  the  Duff,  after  a  voyage  of  between  five 
and  six  months,  reached  Otaheite,  with  the  whole  body  of 
missionaries  on  board.  On  their  arrival,  they  were  welcomed 

•  An  Authentic  Narrative  of  four  years  residence  at  Tongataboo,  p.  o7.  Mis- 
sionary Voyage;  p.  39,  43. 

f  Missionary  Voyage,  p.  5^. 

X  This  island  was  discovered  by  captain  Wallis,  in  the  Dolphin,  on 
the  19th  of  June,  1767.  It  is  situate  between  the  17th  degree  28  mi- 
nutes, and  the  17th  degree  53  minutes  south  latitude,  and  between  the 
149th  degree  11  minutes,  and  the  149th  degree  39  minutes  Avest  longi- 
tude. It  consists  of  two  peninsulas,  of  a  somewhat  circular  form,  join- 
ed bv  an  isthmus,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  reef  of  coral  rocks,  which 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  263 

both  by  the  chiefs  and  the  people  with  the  greatest  demon- 
strations of  joy.  The  natives  came  on  board  the  ship  with 
the  utmost  ease  and  frankness;  and  when  captain  Wilson, 
accompanied  by  several  of  the  missionaries,  prepared  to 
land,  numbers  of  them  came  flying  along  the  beach  to  meet 
them;  and  as  the  boat  approached,  they  ran  into  the  sea, 
drew  it  as  far  as  they  were  able,  and  then  placing  the  stran- 
gers on  their  shoulders,  carried  them  on  shore.  Every  day 
they  came  to  the  ship  in  their  canoes,  laden  with  cocoa-nuts, 
bread-fruit,  and  roasted  pigs.  Each  of  the  principal  men 
was  eager  to  have  one  of  the  missionaries  for  his  Ta30  or 
friend,  which  is  a  sacred  temporary  eng'agement,  customary 

form  several  excellent  bays  and  harbours,  where  tliere  is  room  and  depth 
of  water  for  almost  any  number  of  the  largest  ships.  The  face  of  the 
country  is  very  extraordinary;  for  a  border  of  low  land  almost  entirely 
surrounds  each  peninsula,  and  behind  this  border  the  land  rises  in  rid- 
ges that  run  up  into  the  middle  of  these  divisions,  and  these  form  moun- 
tains that  may  be  seen  at  sixty  leagues  distance.  The  soil,  except 
upon  the  very  tops  of  the  ridges,  is  remarkably  rich  and  fertile,  watered 
by  a  great  number  of  rivulets,  and  covered  Avith  fruit-trees  of  various 
kinds,  forming  the  most  delightful  groves.  The  border  of  low  land 
that  lies  between  the  ridges  and  the  sea  is  in  few  places  more  than  a 
mile  and  a  half  broad;  and  this,  together  with  some  of  the  vallies,  are 
the  only  parts  that  are  inhabited.  Captain  Wailis  made  some  stay  at 
this  island;  and  it  was  afterwards  visited  again  by  captain  Cook,  in  the 
Endeavour,  in  April,  1709.  That  commander  was  accon^panied  by 
sir  Joseph  Banks,  and  Dr.  Solandei-;  and  these  gentlemen,  togetlier 
with  the  captain,  made  a  very  accurate  survey  of  the  island. 

Some  parts  of  the  island  of  Otaheitc  are  very  populous:  and  captain 
Cook  was  of  opinion,  that  the  number  of  inhabitants  on  the  whole  island 
amounted  to  204,000,  including  women  and  children.  T!icy  are  of  a 
clear  olive  complexion,  the  men  are  tall,  strong,  well-limbed,  and  fine- 
ly shaped;  the  women  are  of  an  inferior  size,  but  handsome. 

The  inhabitants  of  Otaheite  believe  in  one  supreme  Deity,  but  at  the 
same  time  acknowledge  a  variety  of  subordinate  deities;  they  offer  up 
their  prayers  without  the  use  of  Idols,  and  believe  the  existence  of  the 
soul  in  a  separate  state,  where  there  are  two  situations,  of  different 
degrees  of  happiness.  Among  these  people  a  subordination  is  estab- 
lished, which  somewhat  resembles  the  early  state  of  the  European  na- 
tions under  the  feudal  system.  If  a  general  attack  happens  tobemadr 
upon  the  island,  every  district  is  obliged  to  furnish  its  proportion  of  sol- 
diers for  the  common  defence.  Their  weapons  are  slings,  which  thev 
use  with  great  dexterity,  and  clubs  of  about  six  or  seven  feet  long,  ami 
made  of  a  hard  heavy  wood.  They  have  a  great  number  of  boats,  manv 
of  which  are  constructed  for  warlike  operations. — Guthric'a  Geogrujih'y. 
vol.  ii.  p.  554,  555,  556. 


264  Propagation  of  Christianity 

in  all  the  South  Sea  Islands,  made  and  ratified  by  an  exchange 
of  names  between  the  parties.  The  Tayo  supplies  his  visi- 
tor with  cocoa-nuts,  and  every  kind  of  provisions  during  his 
stay;  and  he  expects  in  return  some  small  presents  of  nails, 
beads,  or  similar  articles,  and  at  parting  a  gift  of  a  hatchet, 
or  some  other  useful  piece  of  hardware,  with  which  he  thinks 
himself  richly  rewarded  for  all  his  attentions.  On  the  whole, 
indeed,  the  chiefs  and  the  people  seemed  to  vie  with  each 
other  who  should  shew  their  visitors  the  most  kindness  and 
respect.  *t 

•  Miss.  Voyag-e,  p.  50.     Authen.  Nar.  p,  50,  52. 

t  How  different  were  the  sensations  of  the  Otaheitans  at  the  appear- 
ance of  the  Duff  on  their  shores,  from  what  they  were  thirty  jeare  be- 
fore, when  they  were  visited  by  the  Dolphin  !  This  island,  it  is  suppo- 
sed, was  originally  discovered  by  Quiros,  a  Spanish  navigator  in  1606  ; 
but  the  knowledge  of  it  was  entirely  lost  in  Europe,  until  it  was  as^ain 
discovered  by  Captain  Wallis,  in  irGZ.  The  following  account  of  the 
sensations  of  the  natives,  on  that  occasion,  which  Mr.  Cover,  one  of  the 
missionaries,  appears  to  have  collected  from  themselves,  is  so  natural, 
and  yet  so  interesting,  that,  though  rather  foreign  to  our  subject,  we 
cannot  forbear  introducing  it  in  this  place.  When  captain  Wallis  ap- 
proached the  island  in  the  Dolphin,  the  Otaheitans  v;ere  struck  with  as- 
tonishment at  the  extraordinary  appearance  of  the  ship,  and  formed  va- 
rious conjectures  respecting  it.  Some  supposed  it  was  a  floating  island, 
an  idea  which  seemed  generally  to  prevail,  being  strengthened  by  a  tra- 
dition wliich  they  have  among  them,  that  the  smaller  peninsula  was 
originally  driven  from  its  situation  in  some  distant  part  of  the  ocean, 
by  a  tremendous  gale  of  wind,  and  striking  against  the  east  end  of  Ota- 
heite,  occasioned  a  violent  concussion  of  the  island,  and  then  coalesced 
with  it.  But,  on  the  nearer  approach  of  the  vessel,  they  were  induced 
to  alter  this  opinion,  and  could  not  account  for  such  a  strange  appear- 
ance, which  now  filled  them  not  only  with  astonishment  but  alarm. 
When  the  ship  came  to  anchor  in  Matavai  bay,  and  tuey  discovered 
men  on  board  of  her,  their  apprehensions  subsided  a  little,  and  judging 
them  to  be  enemies,  they  instantly  collected  their  canoes  together,  and 
determined  to  attack  them  without  delay.  With  this  view  they  sur- 
rounded the  vessel,  armed  with  spears,  clubs,  and  stones,  and  perceiv- 
ing that  the  men  on  board  had  no  such  weapons  in  their  hands,  thought 
they  should  obtain  an  easy  conquest,  and  commenced  a  violent  as.sault 
with  stones.  The  captain,  who  no  doubt  observed  their  hostile  inten- 
tions, was  prepared  to  receive  them,  and,  in  return  for  their  shower  of 
stones,  fired  his  great  guns  at  them.  The  suditen  explosion  struck  tfiem 
with  terror  and  amazement:  they  instantly  fled  in  all  directions,  cry- 
ing," The  God  is  come!  The  God  is  co.ne!"  pouiing,  as  they  imagined, 
thunder  and  lightning  upon  them.     Having  escaped  to  the  mountains, 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  265 

Kncouraged  by  these  auspicious  circumstances,  captain 
Wilson,  two  or  three  days  after  their  arrival,  informed  the 
king,  through  the  medium  of  an  interpreter,  of  the  design  of 
the  voyage.  He  told  him  that  he  had  brought  with  him  a  num- 
ber of  good  men,  who  had  left  their  own  country,  and  come 
to  Otahcite  solely  with  the  view  of  being  useful  to  him  and 
liis  people,  by  instructing  them  in  the  best  and  most  excel- 
lent things;  that,  on  their  part,  they  required  only  the  grant 
of  a  piece  of  land  stocked  with  bread-fruit  and  cocoa-nut 
trees,  and  so  large  as  to  contain  a  garden,  and  to  admit  of 
houses  being  erected  upon  it;  that  they  should  be  allowed 
to  live  free  and  unmolested  on  the  island;  and  should,  on  no 
account,  be  required  to  intermeddle  in  their  wars,  nor  to 
employ  their  arms,  unless  in  self  defence.  Captain  Wilson 
added,  that  if  he  consented  to  these  proposals,  they  would 
immediately  land  and  settle  in  the  country;  if  not,  they  would 
go  to  some  other  island.  Great  pains  were  taken  to  make 
every  thing  plain  to  his  majesty;  but  it  is  doubtful  whether 
he  understood  one  half.  He  said,  indeed,  they  might  take 
what  land  they  pleased;  and,  about  a  week  after,  the  district 
of  Matavai,  with  a  large  house  upon  it,  was  ceded  to  them 
in  due  form.-^- 

*  Missionary  Voyage,  p.  63,  7o,  7(5. 

diey  waited  with  terror  and  anxiety  the  result  of  tliis  stranp;e  and  lui- 
expected  visit.  With  ti\e  view  piohaldj  of  shewing  tliem  the  destnic- 
live  power  of  his  cannon,  and  to  deter  theni  from  again  attack.iu<i;  (he 
sliip,  captain  Wallls  discharged  several  guns  loaded  with  bar  and  chain 
shot,  which  made  such  terrible  havock  among  the  bread-fruit  trees,  tliat 
1,1\«  Otaheitans  concluded  the  country  would  soon  l)e  laid  desolate. 
Panic  struck,  and  conscious  of  their  inability  to  resist  beings  who  had 
the  command,  or  were  under  the  protection  of  such  a  powerful  god,  who 
emitted  fire  upon  them  w.tli  such  loud  and  manifest  tokens  of  liis  dis- 
pleasure, tiipy  deemed  it  necessary  to  appease  his  anger,  and  that  of  the 
people  who  came  with  him.  They  accordingly  despatche<l  an  embas- 
sador with  the  usual  emblems  of  peace,  a  pig  and  a  plantain  leaf.  These 
being  accepted  by  captain  VV'allis,  a  friendly  intercourse  commenced 
between  him  and  the  natives;  and  tliough  their  oj)inion  of  the  ship  was 
now  corrected,  their  astonisliment  at  her  bulk  and  construction  was  in- 
creased, and  the  dread  of  the  destructive  weapons  she  carried  not  in  the 
least  abated. —  'riiculot^'ical  Magazine  and  Review,  vol.  ii.  p.  488. 

2L 


266  Propagation  of  Christianity 

Matters  being  thus  arranged,  the  following  missionaries 
now  landed,  and  took  up  their  residence  upon  the  island:  the 
Rev.  John  Jefferson,  John  Eyre,  Thomas  Lewis,  James  F. 
Cover,  Messrs.  J.  A.  Gilham,  surgeon,  Benjamin  Broomhall, 
William  Henry,  Samuel  Clode,  Henry  Bicknell,  Peter,  Hod- 
ges, Henry  Nott,  Rowland  Hassel,  John  Cock,  Edward  Main, 
Francis  Oakes,  James  Puckey,  William  Puckey,  and  Wil- 
liam Smith,  who,  with  5  women  and  2  children,  made  in  all  25 
persons.*  The  house  assigned  for  their  use  was  said  to  have 
been  built  by  Pomare,  for  captain  Bligh,  of  the  ship  Bounty, 
whom  he  expected  to  return  and  settle  on  the  island.  It  was  a 
large  spacious  building,  of  an  oblong  figure,  a  hundred  and 
eight  feet  in  length,  and  forty  eight  in  breadth.  The  roof  was 
supported  by  numerous  wooden  pillars,  some  eighteen,  some 
nine  feet  high,  beautifully  thatched  with  entwined  leaves  of 
the  palm  tree;  and  the  whole  was  sheltered  on  every  side  by 
screens  of  Baml>oo.  On  taking  posse^3sion  of  it,  the  first  thing 
'•;  r  ~  :is;:ionaries  did,  was  to  enclose  it  completely  with  a  thick 
baniooo  rail,  in  order  to  prevent  the  natives  crowding  too 
much  upon  them.  The  several  apartments  were  next  plan- 
ned, and  partitions  of  sm»aller  bamboo  begun;  but  owing  to 
the  great  distance  which  the  natives  had  to  go  for  the  mate- 
rials, the  work  proceeded  but  slowly,  though  one  man  strip- 
ped his  own  house  in  order  to  supply  them.  In  the  arrange- 
ment which  was  made,  the  apartments  of  the  m.issionaries 
were  all  at  one  end,  and  to  prevent  disputes,  were  chosen  by 
lot;  next  to  them  were  marked  out  the  store-room,  the  libra- 
ry, and  a  place  for  the  surgeon  and  his  medicines;  the  rema.in- 
ing  space  was  left  for  a  chapel,  which  communicated  with 
the  outer  door.f 

j  Missionary  Yovage,  p.  60,  63. 

*  Mr.  Gilliam,  the  surgeon,  returned  witli  the  ship,  being;  disgusted 
with  the  ungenerous  conduct  of  his  brethren  toward  him;  (Authentic 
JWirrativc; )  but  as  Mr.  Harris  came  back  from  the  Marfjuesas  islands, 
and  settled  in  Otaheite,  the  original  number  was  kept  up. — 3Ii.ssionary 
Voyage^  p.  179. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society,  267 

llie  missionaries  had  not  been  many  days  on  the  island, 
when  ihey  attempted  to  address  the  Otaheitans  on  the  sub- 
ject of  religion,  employing  as  tlicir  interpreters  one  or  two 
Europeans,  who  had  resided  among  them  for  several  years. 
The  people   listened  to  them  with   great  attention;  and,  in 
general,  professed  to  be  mightily  pleased  with  what  they 
heard,  acknowledging  it  was  "  all  very  good."  Mawroa,  the 
husband  of  Pomare's  sister,  even  declared,  he  was  resolved 
to  throw  away  the  gods  that  could  neither  see,  nor  hear,  nor 
speak,  and  worship  the  English  God.  Manne  Manne,  indeed, 
the  aged  high  priest,  remarked,  "  that  the  missionaries  gave 
them  plenty  of  the  word  of  God,  but  very  few  axes,  knives, 
or  scissors;"  though  this  was  not  true,  for  they  distributed 
articles  of  that  description  among  them  in  great  abundance.* 
They  also  made  some  attempts  to  check  the  atrocities  of  the 
Arreoies,  a  society  in   Otaheite  who  murder  every   infant 
born  among  them.  One  of  the  Arreoies  having  come  to  visit 
them,  together  with  his  wife,  then  big  with  child,  the  mission- 
aries embraced  this  opportunity  of  remonstrating  with  them 
against  the  murder  of  their  offspring;   and  even  offered  to 
build  a  house  for  the  reception  of  pregnant  women,  and  to 
take  the  children  under  their  care  as  soon  as  they  were  born. 
The  mother  appeared  to  feel  the  workings  of  nature  in  her 
breast,  and  seemed  willing  to  spare  the  infant;  but  the  brutiil 
chief  was  obstinately  bent  on  its  destruction.     He  acknow- 
ledged, indeed,   that  it  was  a  bloody  act;   but  plead,  in  his 
behalf,  the  established  nature  of  the  practice;  the  loss  of  all 
his  privileges,  and  even  the  total  dissolution  of  their  society, 
should  it  become  common  to  save  their  children.     He  left 
them,  at  that  time,   apparently  determined  to  destroy  the 
child;  but,  a  few  days  after,  he  came  and  promised,  that 
should  it  be  born  alive,  he  would  bring  it  to  them.  Pomare 
and  Ideah,  who  were  also  members  of  the  Arreoy  society, 
were  particularly  spoken  to  on  the  same  subject.     They  had 
not,  indeed,  cohabited  together  for  sometime;  but  they  lived 

•  Missionary  Voyatje,  p.  70, 75,  80,  156,  '324. 


268  Propagation  of  Christianity 

Oil  the  same  terms  of  friendship,  and  in  as  great  dignity  as 
ever,  though  he  had  taken  another  wife,  and  she  one  of  her 
own  servants.  She  was  even  then  pregnant  by  this  fellow, 
and  therefore  the  missionaries  took  occasion  to  reason  with 
her  on  the  shocking  nature  of  murder,  especially  in  a  mother; 
they  also  promised  to  take  the  child  as  soon  as  it  was  born, 
and  that  afterv.'ards  it  should  be  no  further  trouble  to  her; 
but  to  this  she  would  not  consent.  They  then  addressed 
Pomare,  and  entreated  him  to  interpose  with  his  authority 
in  suppressing  this  diabolical  practice,  and  likewise  to  pro- 
hibit the  offering  of  human  sacrifices.  All  this  the  wily 
savage  promised  to  do,  saying,  "  Captain  Cook  told  them 
these  things  should  not  be  done;  but  he  did  not  stay  long 
enough  to  instruct  them."  Manne  Manne,  the  high  priest, 
'svho  had  shewn  them  much  attention  ever  since  their  arrival, 
having  come  in  during  this  conversation,  they  told  him  that 
if  he  offered  any  more  human  sacrifices,  he  would  utterly 
forfeit  their  friendship,  and  might  look  upon  them  as  his 
enemies.  He,  accordingly,  was  not  backward  to  give  them 
his  promise;  though  probably  it  was  with  a  design  it  should 
never  be  fulfilled.-* 

As  Christianity  and  civilization  have  a  natural  and  intimate 
connection  together,  the  missionaries,  while  they  instructed 
the  Otaheitans  in  the  truths  of  religion,  endeavoured  to  in- 
troduce among  them  the  useful  arts  of  life.  Having  erected 
a  forge,  a  few  weeks  after  their  arrival,  Hassel  and  Hodges 
began  to  work  at  the  trade  of  smiths.  The  natives  flocked 
around  them,  and  were  astonished  at  the  case  and  rapidity 
with  which  they  wrought  their  tools.  They  were  greatly 
frightened,  however,  with  the  sparks  and  the  hissing  of  the 
hot  iron  in  water:  no  sooner  did  these  begin,  than  they  fled 
in  all  directions.  Pomare  was  delighted,  beyond  measure, 
with  the  bellows  and  the  forge:  he  caught  the  Blacksmith  in 
his  arms,  all  dirty  as  he  was,  and  joined  noses  with  him,  an 
expression,  it  seems,  of  the  highest  satisfaction.! 

*  Miss.  Voyage,  p.  153.        \  Ibid.  p.  159,  161. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  269 

Such,  indeed,  was  the  respect  in  which  the  missionaries 
were  held  by  the  Otaheitans,  that  Otoo  and  his  queen  brought 
a  large  present  to  Mr.  Cover  and  his  wife,  desiring  to  be- 
come their  adopted  children,  and  promising  to  regard  them 
as  their  father  and  mother.  Pomare  and  Ideah  brought  them 
a  still  larger  present  in  the  evening,  and  begged  them  to 
receive  the  king  and  the  queen  as  their  offspring.  It  is  almost 
incredible,  indeed,  what  quantities  of  provisions  were  pour- 
ed in  upon  them:  at  one  time,  they  mention,  they  had  no  less 
than  a  waggon  load  of  fruits,  besides  a  multitude  of  hogs 
and  poultry.* 

Captain  Wilson,  after  establishing  missions  in  Tongata- 
boo  and  St.  Christina,  returned  to  Otaheite,  after  an  ab- 
sence of  more  than  three  months,  and,  to  his  great  joy,  he 
found  the  missionaries  still  in  high  favour  both  with  the 
chiefs  and  the  people.  Encouraged  by  this  circumstance, 
he  left  the  island  in  the  beginning  of  August;  and  after  re- 
visiting the  other  settlements,  and  touching  at  Canton  for  a 
cargo  of  tea,  he  arrived  in  England  in  the  month  of  July 
1798.t 

Sanguine  as  had  been  the  hopes  of  the  Missionary  Society, 
at  the  departure  of  the  Duff,  they  were  now  elevated  beyond 
all  measure,  on  her  return.  Nor  was  this  feeling  confined 
to  them;  it  pervaded  the  whole  Christian  world;  every  man 
who  took  an  interest  in  the  cause  of  missions,  now  seemed 
big  with  expectations  of  success;  if  any,  at  least,  entertained 
other  views,  they  scarcely  ventured  to  express  them.  A 
day  of  thanksgiving  being  appointed  by  the  Missionary  So- 
ciety, for  the  return  of  the  Duff,  and  the  promising  aspect 
of  the  mission.  Dr.  Haweis,  one  of  the  preachers  on  this 
occasion,  drew  the  following  splendid  and  fascinating  pic- 
ture of  the  success  with  which  God  had  crowned  the  under- 
taking: 

"  In  this  voyage,  to  tell  of  all  his  wonders,  my  time  would 
fail,  and   my  ability  would  be  unequal.     I  will  just  re- 

•  Miss.  Voyag-e,  p.  152.        f  Ibid.  p.  152. 


270  J  Propagation  of  Christianity 

fresh  your  memory  with  the  following  hints  of  some  of  the 
great  things  done  for  us,  in  the  swiftness,  the  safety,  the 
health,  and  the  success  of  the  voyage,  particularly  respecting 
the  great  object  we  had  in  view. 

First,  the  swiftness  of  the  passage.  This  will  be  the  ad- 
miration of  every  nautical  man  by  profession.  Who  ever 
heard,  in  the  most  prosperous  voyage,  of  the  ablest  naviga- 
tors, of  a  hundred  and  eighty-three  degrees  of  longitude  pas- 
sed  in  the  short  space  of  fifty-one  days?  Moving  often  at 
the  rate  of  two  hundred  and  twenty,  or  thirty  miles  a  day, 
and  so  steadily  before  the  wind,  as  seldom  ever  to  interrupt 
the  daily  exercises  of  prayer  and  praise,  of  study,  or  repose. 

Secondly,  Shall  we  not,  with  thankfulness,  admire  the 
safety  of  the  conveyance?  Not  a  mast  sprung,  not  a  yard 
lost,  not  a  sail  split,  not  an  anchor  left  behind.  To  traverse 
more  than  twice  the  circumference  of  the  globe,  especially 
amidst  the  lurking  shoals,  the  hidden  rocks,  the  low  islands 
of  the  Southern  Ocean,  must,  it  is  well-known,  be  full  of 
danger.  They  felt  it,  and  sometimes  were  at  their  wits  end, 
going  up  to  heaven,  and  sinking  down  in  the  deep,  shaken 
by  the  pealing  thunder,  embayed  without  a  passage,  and 
once  supcnded  on  the  dreadful  reef.  I  read  and  trembled. 
But  "  he  that  dwelleth  under  the  defence  of  the  Most  High, 
shall  be  safe  under  the  shadow  of  the  Almighty."  I  was 
ashamed,  humbled,  comforted,  when,  in  the  midst  of  the 
most  awful  scenes,  I  heard  one  of  my  brethren  say,  "  We 
took  the  wings  of  faith,  and  fled  in  prayer  to  the  God  of  our 
mercies;  and,  when  we  had  sung  an  hymn,  presently  the 
storm  abated,  and  we  lay  down  comfortable,  and  fell  asleep." 
Ah!  "  so  he  giveth  his  beloved  sleep." 

Thirdly,  Their  health.  What  a  miracle  of  mercy  hath 
our  vessel  been!  Of  about  sixty  persons,  during  nearly  a 
two  years  voyage,  not  one  hath  been  lost.  Not  onlv  a  hair 
of  their  head  hath  not  perished,  but  those  who  have  return- 
ed are  fat  and  well-looking;  and  every  man  and  woman  is 
reported  in  better  health  than  when  they  left  the  shores  of 


by  the  London  Mzssionanj  Society.  271 

their  native  country.  What  disease,  misery,  and  famine, 
have  we  not  often  heard  of  in  voyages  of  far  less  extent  and 
duration?  The  great  physician  had  determined,  that  the  in- 
habitants of  his  ark  should  not  complain,  "  I  am  sick." 
Few  vessels  have  ever  been  so  long  w  ithout  touching  for 
refreshment,  or  performed  so  vast  a  run  as  thirteen  thousand 
eight  hundred  miles,  without  the  sight  of  land.  But  except 
the  common  well  known  effects  of  the  sea,  or  the  indisposi- 
tion of  an  individual,  not  a  scorbutic  complaint  appeared,  no 
spreading  fever,  no  infectious  disorder,  no  dangerous  acci- 
dent, or  broken  bone.  Passing  through  climates  so  differ- 
ent, tender  women  and  children,  many  of  whom  had  never 
seen  the  sea  till  tiiey  embarked  upon  it,  unaccustomed  to 
such  food  or  accommodation,  they  reached  Otaheite,  after 
a  five  months  voyage,  without  an  individual  sick.  All  the 
way  they  had  plenty  of  provisions;  their  water  sweet,  abun- 
dant, and  never  failing;  and  not  a  creature  wanting  any  man- 
ner of  thing  that  was  good. 

But  I  reserve  the  most  important  particular  till  the  last, 
the  success  of  the  voyage,  respecting  the  great  object  we 
had  in  view.  We  had  passed  in  safety  the  dangers  of  the 
deep,  and  were  ready  to  encounter  the  greater  danger  appre- 
hended from  the  shore;  not,  indeed,  by  myself  or  those  who 
knew  the  real  state  of  these  islands.  We  were  convinced, 
if  the  Lord  conveyed  our  missionaries  in  safety  to  the  place 
of  their  destination,  our  work  was  done.  Where  are  now 
the  cannibals  that  were  to  devour  us?  Where  the  Heathen 
to  seize  our  property  and  persons?  Where  the  helpless  in- 
fants with  their  mothers,  a  prey  to  the  savage  arms?  These 
vain  terrors  at  least,  brethren,  are  dissipated.  I  need  not 
tell  you  the  reception  we  have  met  with.  Welcomed  as 
angels  from  heaven;  furnished  with  every  necessary  for  sub- 
sistence and  for  comfort;  heard  with  reverence,  and  courted 
as  if  our  favour  and  friendship  were  the  first  of  blessings. 
I  use  no  exaggeration;  1  recite  simple  facts.  The  news  of 
our  intended  residence  among  the  Otaheitans  and  other  isl- 


272  Propagation  of  Christianity 

anders,  were  received  with  transport.  The  king  and  every 
chief  crowded  round  our  missionaries;  the  whole  land  was 
before  them;  they  had  to  choose  the  Goshen  where  they 
would  set  up  their  tents.  Set  up  their  tents  do  I  say?  Be- 
hold a  specious  mansion,  surrounded  with  bread-fruits,  co- 
coa-nuts, and  the  beautiful  evee  apple,  ready  prepared  for 
their  reception,  sufficient  to  accommodate  the  whole  body 
of  missionaries.  They  are  met  on  the  beach  by  the  king 
and  his  chiefs,  led  by  the  hand  amidst  the  crowd  of  sur- 
rounding and  admiring  natives,  and  not  only  put  in  posses- 
sion of  such  an  abode,  but  the  whole  district  of  Matavai,  with 
all  its  produce,  solemnly  ceded  to  them  forever;  a  territory 
sufficient  to  maintain  ten  thousand  persons.  Each  chief  is 
eager  to  secure  the  friendship  of  the  individual  missionaries, 
and  as  their  Tayos,  to  invest  them  with  their  authority,  and 
admit  them  to  a  participation  of  all  they  possess.  So  far 
from  danger  or  subjection  to  tyrannical  or  savage  rule,  the 
Lord  hath  made  them  princes,  in  a  manner,  in  all  the  lands 
of  the  Heathen  whither  they  have  gone.  It  was  mockingly 
said,  "  The  trees,  I  suppose,  produce  hot  rolls  for  breakfast." 
It  is  true,  those  who  ventured  to  those  distant  lands,  little 
thought  what  they  should  eat,  or  what  they  should  drink: 
yet  it  is  singular,  that  our  brethren,  with  united  voice,  de- 
clare their  bread  fruit  is  prepared  for  them,  and  equal  to  the 
nicest  white  bread  in  England.  But  they  have  applied  it  to 
a  nobler  use.  The  admiring  heathen  have  seen  it  broken  as 
the  symbol  of  our  most  sacred  mysteries,  and  received  by 
the  holy  brethren,  as  the  body  of  their  Lord,  and  the  pledge 
of  his  dying  love. 

But  I  must  not  detain  you  with  other  particulars.  I  will 
only  add,  these  are  the  least  of  our  missionary  mercies.  The 
natives  have  shewn  the  most  uncommon  attention,  from  the 
greatest  to  the  least  of  them.  They  frequent  our  worship  in 
multitudes,  confess  our  God  to  be  greater  than  their  own, 
and  desire  to  know  more  of  Him  and  his  word;  though  we 
can  only  yet  preach  through  an  interpreter,  and  by  transla- 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society. 


273 


tions  which  we  begin  to  read  to  them  in  their  own  tongue, 
and  which  they  hear  with  reverence,  and  sa}"-,  they  generally 
understand.  They  have  ah'eady  brought  their  children  for 
instruction,  and  our  school  is  opened;  many  know  all  their 
letters,  and  begin  to  join  them  with  great  docility.  The 
chief  priest  of  the  country  is  most  friendly  to  the  mission- 
aries, and  seconds  their  instruction,  assuring  the  people  it  is 
*'  my  tye,"  good;  and  says  they  must  amend  their  manners. 
*'  I  am  told  to  learn,"  says  he,  "  but  our  children  will  be 
taught  all  these  wonderous  things,  which  we  see,  and  know 
the  speaking  book." 

The  missionaries  have  not  indeed  manna  rained  round 
their  tents,  but  they  have  meat  as  sweet  as  the  quails;  and 
bread-fruit,  cocoa-nut,  and  a  multitude  of  vegetables  brought 
daily;  and  a  two-fold  provision  for  the  Sabbath,  much  more 
than  they  can  possibly  consume,  and  which  are  distributed 
to  the  servants  and  natives.  Our  brethren  are  active;  they 
have  acquired  much  of  the  language,  have  formed  themselves 
comfortable  residences,  and  every  day  are  employed  in  la- 
bours to  make  known  his  name,  and  to  proclaim  his  glory 
for  whose  sake  they  have  gone  forth  to  the  Heathen,  with 
their  lives  in  their  hands;  and  proved  the  truth  of  his  pro- 
mises, in  a  measure  of  wliich  we  have  no  adequate  concep- 
tion: "  Whosoever  will  lose  his  life  shall  preserve  it;  and 
whosoever  hath  forsaken  houses,  or  brethren,  or  sisters,  or 
father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or  children,  for  my  name's  sake, 
shall  receive  an  hundred  fold,  and  shall  inherit  everlasting 
life." 

Unable  to  enter  into  further  particulars,  I  shall  only  add, 
as  the  result  of  the  fullest  inquiry  and  intelligence,  that  no- 
thing can  appear  more  promising  than  the  beginning  of  our 
labours  in  these  isles  of  the  sea.  The  fields,  indeed,  appear 
white  for  harvest;  they  regard  us  as  beings  of  a  superior  or- 
der; they  feel  and  confess  their  own  inferiority;  they  hear  us 
in  silent  awe;  and  they  seem  ready  to  eml^race  our  message, 
as  soon  as  we  are  able  to  communicate  it  to  them.  Ah!  breth- 
voi,.  ri.  flM 


27  i  Propagation  of  Christiafuty 

ren,  do  not  your  hearts  burn  within  you,  at  the  tidings  you 
have  heard;  and  joining  in  one  vast  burst  of  praise  and  ado- 
ration with  angels  and  archangels,  and  all  the  company  of 
heaven,  can  we  but  shout  around  the  throne;  "  Worthy  is 
the  Lamb  that  was  slain,  to  receive  power,  and  riches,  and 
wisdom,  and  strength,  and  honour,  and  glory,  and  bles- 
sing?"* 

Such  was  the  representation  which  Dr.  Hawies  drew  of 
the  success  otthe  South  Sea  mission,  a  representation  far  be- 
yond the  truth,  and  in  which  every  circumstance  of  an  un- 
favorable aspect  is  carefully  kept  out  of  view.  Animated, 
however,  by  this  dazzling  description,  as  well  as  by  their 
own  sanguhie  hopes,  the  Missionary  Society  determined  to 
lose  no  time  in  prosecuting  a  work  they  had  so  successfully 
begun.  On  the  very  next  day,  they  passed  a  resolution  to 
undertake  another  voyage  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  "  for  the  pur- 
pose of  visiting  and  assisting  the  missionaries  already  there> 
of  adding  to  their  number  where  circumstances  might  render 
it  expedient,  and  of  planting  the  gospel  in  other  islands, 
where  it  should  appear  most  eligible,  from  their  extent,  po- 
pulation, or  other  favourable  circumstances."  Such,  indeed, 
were  the  energy  and  zeal  manifested  on  this  occasion,  such 
the  liberality  of  the  Christian  public,  such  the  eagerness  of 
multitudes  to  go  abroad  as  missionaries,  that  within  little 
more  than  three  months  from  the  time  this  resolution  was 
taken,  the  preparations  for  the  voyage  were  completed,  and 
the  ship  was  ready  to  sail.f 

Before  the  end  of  December,  the  Duff  sailed  from  Eng- 
land on  her  second  voyage  to  the  South  Sea  Islands,  under 
the  command  of  captain  Thomas  Robson,  with  twenty  nine 
missionaries  on  board,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Howel  of  Knares- 
burgh  as  superintendent  of  the  mission.  A  number  of  the 
missionaries  were  married;  five  of  them  were  ordained  to  the 

*  Thanksgiving  Sermons  before  the  Missionary  Society,  August  6,  1798.  p 
49,  56. 

7  Evangelical  Magazine,  vol.  vi.  p.  378,  509, 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  275 

ministry;  several  of  them  possessed  some  degree  of  medical 
knowledge;  and  most  of  the  others  were  artizans  of  various 
descriptions.  The  letter  of  instructions  from  the  directors 
of  the  Society  with  regard  to  the  conduct  and  arrangement 
of  the  mission,  displays  in  general  much  good  sense,  exten- 
sive information,  and  calm  consideration  of  the  subject; 
though,  it  is  probable,  they  little  expected  the  difficulties  and 
disappointments  for  which  they  in  this  manner  endeavoured 
to  make  provision.* 

Hitherto  the  Missionary  Society  had  beheld  its  operations 
crowned  with  success,  beyond  the  expectations  even  of  its 
most  sanguine  members.  But  now  the  sky  grew  dark;  the 
clouds  began  to  gather;  the  storm  burst  at  once  in  various 
quarters.  It  was  like  an  electric  shock  to  the  Christian 
world.  The  Duff  had  not  left  England  two  months,  when 
she  and  all  the  missionaries  on  board  were  captured  off 
Cape  Frio,  on  the  nineteenth  of  February  1799,  by  the  Bo- 
noparte,  a  French  privateer  of  twenty-two  guns,  and  up- 
wards of  two  hundred  men.  The  morning  of  that  day  was 
clear  and  fine,  and  it  was  just  possible  to  perceive  a  vessel  at 
a  prodigious  distance,  but  as  its  appearance  was  very  insig- 
nificant (for  it  was  only  like  a  fishing  smack)  the  missionaries 
and  the  crew  of  the  Duff,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  were 
disposed  to  pay  little  or  no  attention  to  it.  It  seemed  ex- 
tremely improbable  that  an  enemy's  ship  should  be  cruizing 
in  that  quarter,  and  the  conclusion  that  it  would  inevitably 
fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Portuguese,  tended  still  further  to 
dispel  every  fear.  During  the  preceding  part  of  the  voyage, 
they  had  uniformly  been  alarmed  on  the  sight  of  any  strange 
sail,  and  committed  themselves  to  the  protection  of  the  Most 
High;  but,  on  this  occasion,  as  they  were  apprehensive  of  no 
danger,  so  they  offered  up  no  prayers  for  deliverance.  The 
event,  indeed,  shewed  that  their  security  was  founded  in 
presumption;  but  yet  it  is  proper  to  remark,  that  had  they 
known  the  utmost  of  their  danger,  it  was  not  in  their  power 

•  Evangelical  Magazine,  vol.  vii,  p.  ",  "8. 


276  Propagation  of  Christianity 

to  have  shunned  it,  for  there  was  a  still  calm  during  the 
early  part  of  the  day,  so  that  they  could  make  no  way  at  all, 
and  they  apprehended  that  the  same  AAas  the  case  with  the 
other  vessel.  Indeed,  from  the  best  observations  they  were 
able  to  make  with  their  glasses,  she  seemed  to  be  riding  at 
anchor,  about  twelve  o'clock;  whereas,  it  afterwards  appear- 
ed, that  she  was  advancing  towards  them  by  the  help  of  her 
sweeps,  at  the  rate  of  several  miles  an  hour;  but  with  all  her 
port  holes  shut,  the  better  to  conceal  her  hostile  design. 
About  four  in  the  afternoon  there  sprung  up  a  light  breeze, 
and  they  made  the  best  use  of  it  they  were  able,  being  now 
within  a  few  leagues  of  Rio  Janeiro,  and  impatient  to  reach 
that  port,  in  order  to  obtain  refreshments.  With  this  view 
alone,  and  not  from  any  apprehension  of  danger,  they  made 
all  the  sail  they  could;  and  though  they  perceived  the  other 
vessel  doing  the  same,  it  gave  them  little  or  no  concern. 
What  then  was  their  surprise  and  astonishment,  when  about 
ten  o'clock  at  night,  after  they  had  spent  the  day  in  the  most 
perfect  security,  she  fired  a  gun  to  bring  them  to.  The 
moon  had  hitherto  shone  bright;  but  a  light  squall  now 
sprung  up;  the  sky  was  obscured  by  a  thick  cloud,  and  a  hea- 
vy shower  of  rain  began  to  fall.  At  that  moment,  the  first 
shot  was  followed  by  a  second,  the  direction  of  which  was 
so  near  the  DulF,  as  to  be  heard  in  the  air,  and  seen  in  the 
water.  Most  of  the  company,  however,  were  still  disposed 
to  hope  the  best;  and  that,  when  it  was  understood  who 
they  were,  and  \vhat  was  their  design,  they  would  be  allow- 
ed to  proceed  on  their  voyage  without  further  molestation. 
But  this  hope  quickly  vanished  when  she  came  up  to  them: 
then  the  haughty  tone  of  her  English  interpreter  not  only 
rendered  them  suspicious  of  danger,  but  made  some  of 
them  literally  tremble.  The  enemy,  with  little  ceremony, 
ordered  them  to  send  off  their  boat;  and  as  this  was  not 
done  instantly,  they  again  bellowed  forth  the  authoritative 
command,  threatening,  in  case  of  refusal,  to  sink  them  to 
the  bottom.     The  first  mate  accordingly  hastened  on  board 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  277 

the  Bonaparte;  and,  in  a  short  time,  he  returned  with  the 
awful  intelligence,  that  the  DufF  was  a  prize,  and  that  all  the 
men,  without  exception,  were  ordered  to  leave  her  imme- 
diately, and  go  on  board  the  enemy.  The  feelings  of  the 
captain,  the  missionaries,  and  the  crew,  on  receiving  this  or- 
der, it  is  more  easy  to  conceive  than  describe.  The  marri- 
ed brethren,  in  particular,  were  filled  with  the  utmost  con- 
sternation and  distress;  the  thought  of  leaving  their  wives 
and  their  children  in  the  hands  of  a  lawless  banditti,  swallow- 
ed up  every  other  consideration.  Besides,  the  officers  who 
had  come  on  board,  armed  with  cutlasses,  executed  the  or- 
der with  so  much  despatch,  that  no  opportunity  was  afforded 
those  who  had  no  wearing  apparel  but  what  they  had  on,  to 
procure  a  further  supply,  a  circumstance  which  afterwards 
tended  not  a  little  to  aggravate  their  distress.  Some  of  the 
sailors,  indeed,  had  already  taken  possession  of  the  cabins, 
and  were  enriching  themselves  with  the  spoils;  while  others 
drove  the  missionaries  and  the  crew  into  the  boat,  as  if  they 
had  been  so  many  sheep  for  the  slaughter;  without  inquiring 
whether  the  number  herded  together  could  be  accommodat- 
ed or  not.  Even  after  it  was  full  as  it  could  well  hold,  they 
threw  down  upon  them  from  the  ship  whatever  baggage  was 
\o  be  conveyed  to  the  privateer,  without  the  smallest  regard 
to  their  safety.  "  Our  property,"  says  Mr.  Howel,  "  they 
knew  how  to  value;  our  persons  were  deemed  of  little  worth." 
The  prisoners,  on  entering  the  Bonaparte,  were  struck  with 
the  scene:  it  seemed  a  kind  of  hell  in  uproar.  Noise  and 
confusion  reigned  in  full  perfection,  which,  together  with 
the  forlorn  appearance,  the  squalid  looks,  and  the  barbarous 
manners  of  the  crew,  overwhelmed  the  poor  missionaries 
with  grief  and  horror.  They  stood  all  together  near  the 
stern  of  the  vessel,  to  which  they  were  directed  as  they  en- 
tered, till  about  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  gazing  on  one 
another  as  helpless  objects  of  commiseration,  lost  in  astonish- 
ment, incapable  of  making  one  consolatory  reflection  for  their 
mutual  comfort,  and  sunk  almost  into  a  state  of  mental  tor- 


i278  Propagation  of  Christianity 

por;  unable  to  reconcile  their  present  disastrous  situation 
with  the  gracious  superintending  providence  of  God,  and 
ignorant  of  what  severe  trials  they  might  yet  be  called  to 
suffer.  They  were,  at  length,  conducted  by  a  sentry  below 
deck,  to  the  place  where  the  sailors  slept.  In  this  uncom- 
fortable  situation,  they  had  to  spend  their  nights  on  board  the 
Bonaparte,  though  during  the  day  they  were  permitted  to 
come  on  deck.  This  place  was  so  low  that  they  could 
scarcely  stand  upright,  and  so  small  they  had  scarcely  room 
to  lie;  while,  at  the  same  time,  the  smell  was  so  offensive, 
the  heat  so  intense,  and  the  air  so  close,  that  they  were  al- 
most suffocated  to  death.  They  now  learned  the  value  of 
water,  by  the  painful  experience  of  the  want  of  it.  Such  as 
in  England  they  would  not  have  employed  to  wash  their 
hands,  was  now  deemed  valuable  to  quench  their  thirst;  the 
allowance  being  only  a  scanty  quart  in  twenty-four  hours, 
though  they  were  oppressed  with  the  heat  of  a  vertical  sun. 
Besides,  the  sailors,  in  passing  to  and  from  their  hammocks, 
trod  over  them;  and  the  vermin,  from  their  beds,  dropped 
upon  those  under  them;  while  the  sentinels  who  stood  on 
guard,  in  passing  to  and  from  the  lantern,  used  to  thrust  the 
points  of  their  swords  between  them,  to  feel  for  room  where 
they  might  put  their  feet.  The  sailors  also  plundered  them 
of  what  little  property  any  of  them  still  possessed.  Such  of 
them  as  had  time  or  recollection,  on  the  night  of  the  capture, 
brought  with  them  a  small  bundle  of  clothes;  but  now  they 
lost  them  in  whole,  or  in  part,  through  the  rapacity  of  these 
miscreants,  who  left  many  of  them  without  a  shirt  to  change 
with  another.  This  was  unknown  to  captain  Carbonelle, 
the  commander  of  the  privateer;  and,  indeed,  when  he  was 
informed  of  it,  he  ordered  the  rogues  to  bring  all  their  ham- 
mocks, beds,  bags,  &c.  on  the  quarter  deck,  and  desired  the 
missionaries  to  claim  what  was  their  property.  By  this 
means  some  of  them  recovered  part  of  the  articles  stolen 
from  them;  but  this  transaction  heightened  the  enmity  of 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  279 

the  wretches  against  them,  which  they  did  not  fail  to  mani- 
fest  in  future,  as  far  as  was  in  their  power.* 

Indeed,  as  Carbonelle  and  his  officers  became  acquainted 
with  their  character,  and  the  nature  of  their  undertaking, 
they  alleviated  to  the  utmost  of  their  power,  the  horrors  of 
their  captivity,  and  were  disposed  to  shew  them  every  indul- 
gence.    The  captain  expressed  his  concern  for  their  mode 
of  living  and  lodging,  which  necessity,  not  choice,  imposed 
upon  him.     He  felt  for  them  as  a  sympathising  friend,  rather 
than  triumphed  over  them  as  an  unfeeling  enemy.     He  al- 
ways endeavoured  to  encourage  their  confidence  and  hope, 
by  his  gentle  treatment,  his  friendly  conversation,  and  his 
courteous  manners,  instead  of  impressing  them  with  servile 
awe,  by  the  frown  of  his  countenance,  or  the  authority  of 
his  office.     When  the  instructions  of  the  Missionary  Socie- 
ty to  captain  Robson  were  communicated  to  him,  he  seemed 
to  feel  exceedingly  on  their  account.     Had  he  known,  he 
said,  who  they  were,  and  the  cause  in  which  they  were  em- 
barked, he  would   sooner  have  given  500/.  out  of  his  own 
pocket  than  have  met  with  them:  but  now  the  laws  of  his 
country,  and  the  claims  of  his  officers  and  men,  compelled 
him  to  act  as  he  did.f 

For  some  time  the  missionaries  knew  not  what  might  be 
their  destiny,  whether  they  would  be  detained  prisoners  of 
war,  or  set  at  liberty  upon  their  arrival  in  port.  As  it  was 
natural  to  persons  in  their  situation,  hope  and  fear,  distrust 
and  confidence,  alternately  prevailed.  In  general,  most  of 
them  were  enabled  to  cast  their  cares  on  God;  but  yet,  on 
some  occasions,  they  appear  to  have  been  torn  with  anxiety, 
and  agitated  with  the  most  tumultuous  conflicting  passions. 
Their  capture  afforded  a  trial  of  their  missionary  temper; 
und  it  must  be  acknowledged,  that  the  character  of  some  of 

•  Howcl's  Interesting  Particulacs  of  the  Second  Voyasje  of  tlic  Missionary  Ship 
Duff,  p.  23,  35.  Gregory's  Journal  of  a  Captured  Missionary  in  the  second  voyage 
of  the  Dufl;  p.  18, 24,  28,  52,  68. 

t  Hov.-crs  Interesting  Particulars,  p.  41,  49.    Gregory's  Journal,  p.  27^ 


280  Propagation  of  Christianity 

them  did  not  appear  in  the  most  favourable  light.  There 
were  several  who  manifested  an  impatient,  discontented,  re- 
fractor}^ spirit,  and  a  want  of  all  subordination.* 

The  Bonaparte  was  out  on  a  three  months  cruise,  so  that 
the  prospect  before  them  was  not  the  most  pleasing;  but  hav- 
ing in  less  than  a  fortnight  taken  three  other  prizes,  captain 
Carbonelle  altered  his  original  design,  and  sailed  for  Monte 
Video  in  the  Rio  de  la  Plata,  where  he  arrived  within  three 
weeks  after  the  capture  of  the  Duff;  and  thus  the  captivity 
of  the  missionaries  was  providentially  shortened.! 

On  their  arrival,  they  had  the  happiness  to  learn  that  the 
Duff  had  reached  Monte  Video  ten  days  before  them.     Im- 
mediately on  being  taken  possession  of  by  the  French,  she 
had  been  despatched  to  that  port  under  the  command  of  M. 
Riviere,  as  prize-master,  with  the  women  and  children  on 
board;  a  circumstance  which  had  occasioned,  both  them  and 
their  partners  in  life,  the  greatest  anxiety  and  distress,  as  it 
was  uncertain  when,  or  even  if  ever,  they  should  see  each 
other  again.     Captain  Carbonelle,  however,  had  kindly  suf- 
fered Mr,  Turner,  the  surgeon,  to  accompany  them,  in  or- 
der to  afford  them  medical  aid,  in  case  of  any  indisposition 
occurring  among  them.     Indeed,  though  the  sailors  were 
disposed  to  pilfer  and  otherwise  maltreat  them,  yet  the  offi- 
cers uniformly  shewed  them  the  utmost  attention,  treating 
them  with  the  greatest  politeness,  and  the  most  scrupulous 
delicacy.      Every  regard  was  paid  to  their  convenience  and 
comfort,  as  well  as  to  their  personal  safety.     Whatever  pro- 
^•isions  were  on  board,  were  at  their  command;  and  they 
were  told,  they  had  only  to  mention  vvhat  they  wanted,  and 
if  it  was  in  the  ship  it  was  at  their  service.     When  any  of 
the  live  stock  were  killed,  they  always  had   the  preference, 
and   were  permitted  to  make  their  choice,  before  either  the 
officers  or  the  seamen:  and  upon  their  arrival  at  Monte  Video, 
ihey  were  immediately  supplied  with  apples,  pears,  peaches, 

*  Huwel's  Interesting  particulars,  p,  52,  54,  55,  62,  69. 
t  Gregory's  Journal,  p.  24,  58. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  281 

figs,  and  melons,  which,  considering  the  time  they  had  been 
at  sea,  were  a  most  delicious  repast  to  them,  though  some, 
from  using  them  too  freely,  experienced  the  bad  effects  of 
their  indulgence.  To  crown  the  whole  of  these  mercies, 
they  had  now  the  pleasure  of  seeing  their  husbands  in  safety; 
and  the  joy  which  they  mutually  felt  at  meeting,  was  some- 
what in  proportion  to  the  horror  they  had  experienced  at 
parting.* 

During  their  stay  in  South  America,  the  missionaries  were 
not  confined  as  prisoners  of  war,  but  wTre  permitted  to  go 
about  without  molestation  or  fear.  Not  only  did  captain 
Carbonelleandhis  officers  continue  to  shew  them  the  great- 
est attention,  but  even  the  Spaniards  in  general  treated  them 
with  the  utmost  civility.  At  all  the  cottages  where  they 
called,  they  met  with  much  hospitality;  the  inhabitants 
cheerfully  supplied  them  with  the  best  their  tables  could  af- 
ford, and  in  many  instances  refused  to  accept  of  the  small- 
est remuneration.  Two  of  the  women  who  were  preg- 
nant being  near  the  time  of  their  delivery,  and  the  house 
where  they  lodged  being  extremely  inconvenient  for  such  an 
occurrence,  as  the  whole  of  the  married  people  had  only  two 
sleeping  apartments  among  them,  a  gentleman  of  Monte 
Video  generously  granted  them  the  use  of  his  house  in  the 
country,  about  six  miles  from  the  town,  with  all  the  accom- 
modations it  could  afford.  In  several  instances,  indeed,  when 
the  missionaries  made  excursions  into  the  neighbouring 
country,  a  practice  against  which  they  were  particularly 
warned,  they  were  attacked  by  robbers,  and  some  of  them 
even  narrowly  escaped  with  their  life.f 

Being  now,  however,  in  a  foreign  land,  where  they  had 
no  opportunities  of  usefulness,  and  where  they  still  suffered 
not  a  few  inconveniences,  they  were  impatient  to  leave  it  as 
speedily  as  possible.     Every  scheme,  however,  which  they 

•  Howel's  Interesting'  particulars,  p.  95.     Gregory's  Journal,  p.  76,  88, 
t  Howel's  Interesting  Particulars,  p.  106,  116, 120. 

vol,.  It.  2  N 


282  Fropagation  of  Christianity 

formed  for  this  purpose,  was  successively  frustrated;  and,  at 
length,  the  prospect  of  their  removal  seemed  in  a  great  mea- 
sure closed.     They  had  early  formed  some  expectations  of 
being  able  to  redeem  the  Duff,  and  to  proceed  on  their  voy- 
age; but  though  captain  Carbonelle  was  favourable  to  the 
plan,  they  soon  found  that  this  desirable  object  could  not  be 
attained,  unless  by  the  prompt  payment  of  hard  cash,  on  ac- 
count of  the  sailors  usually  demanding  their  prize   money 
before  they  leave  the  port  where  the  vessel  is  disposed  of;  a 
thing  which,  in  their  circumstances,  it  was  impossible  for 
them  to  accomplish.     Several  of  the  missionaries  now  form- 
ed the  idea  of  visiting  Patagonia,  and  of  endeavouring  to 
plant  Christianity  in  that  benighted  country;  but  on   fur- 
ther consideration,  it  was  also  found  necessary  to  relinquish 
this  plan.     They  next  made  an  attempt  to  purchase  a  small 
brig,  one  of  the  prizes  of  the  Bonaparte;   and  after  a  great 
deal  of  trouble   in   contracting   for  her,   they    considered 
the  bargain  as  in  a  manner  concluded.     Most  of  the  mis- 
sionaries now  expressed  their  willingness  to  prosecute  their 
voyage  to  the  South  Sea  Islands,  provided  it  was  deemed 
practicable  and  safe;  but  as  captain  Robson  thought  the  sea- 
son was  too  fir  advanced  for  this  purpose,  some  offered  to 
go  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  some  to  Sierra  Leone, 
while  others  chose  to  return  to  Ens^land.     But  in  a  dav 
or  two  the  whole  of  this  arrangement  was  unexpectedly  frus- 
trated; for  notwithstanding  the  bargain  they  had  made,  the 
vessef  was  sold  to  a  Portuguese  merchant.     The  missiona- 
ries were  now  reduced  to  the   utmost  perplexity,  for  an  or- 
der was  issued  by  the  Spanish  viceroy  to  make  them  all 
prisoners,  if  they  did  not  leave  the  country  within  about  a 
week.* 

The  missionaries  had  now  nothing  before  them  but  the 
prospect  of  captivity,  in  a  far  distant  country,  unless  that 
captain  Carbonelle  would  take  them  on  board  the  Bonaparte; 
and  he  assured  them,  that  in  that  case,  he  would  be  obliged 

•  Howel's  Interesting  Particulars,  p.  131,51,  99,  127. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  283 

to  land  them  on  some  part  of  the  coast,  the  first  opportunity- 
he  could  find,  or  else  to  carry  them  prisoners  to  Cayenne,  a 
French  settlement  to  the  northward.  Such  was  the  dilemma 
to  which  they  were  reduced,  when  he  succeeded  in  procur- 
ing a  passage  for  them  to  Rio  Janeiro,  in  the  vessel  of  wiiich 
they  had  been  disappointed;  and  he,  at  the  same  time,  had 
the  generosity  to  advance  them  several  hundred  dollars  on 
account  of  the  Missionary  Society,  to  provide  them  in  stores 
for  their  voyage.  In  a  short  time  they  got  every  thing  ready 
for  their  departure,  and  after  taking  an  affectionate  farewell 
of  their  friends  at  Monte  Video,  they  embarked  on  board 
the  Portuguese  brig  about  the  beginning  of  May,  and  set 
sail  for  Rio  Janeiro.  The  voyage  they  hoped  would  not 
occupy  more  than  a  fortnight,  but  to  their  great  disappoint- 
ment, it  lasted  about  a  month;  and  as  the  vessel  was  very 
small,  they  were  extremely  crowded,  and  suffered  many 
other  inconveniences  in  the  course  of  the  passage.  They 
had  begun,  however,  to  flatter  themselves  with  the  prospect 
of  speedily  entering  the  harbour  of  Rio  Janeiro,  when  they 
v/ere  alarmed  by  the  sight  of  a  fleet  of  ships,  one  of  which 
bore  down  upon  them,  and  proved  to  be  a  frigate  of  forty 
guns.  So  large  a  vessel,  with  her  ports  open,  and  full  of  men 
of  a  strange,  savage,  uncouth  appearance,  could  not  fail  to 
strike  the  missionaries  with  alarm,  after  what  they  had  lately 
suffered.  They  had  soon,  indeed,  the  satisfaction  of  behold- 
ing her  hoist  Portuguese  colours;  but  this  proved  no  pro- 
tection to  them;  for  as  the  merchant  had  purchased  the 
brig  without  her  having  been  regularly  condemned,  and  as 
he  had  likewise  been  chargeable  with  some  illicit  acts  of 
smuggling,  his  vessel  was  now  captured  by  his  own  coun- 
try men.  *• 

The  missionaries  being  thus  captured  a  second  time,  were 
ordered  out  of  the  brig,  and  taken  on  board  either  of 
the  commodore's  ship,  of  seventy-four  guns,  or  of  the  frigate 
of  forty,  which  were  the  convoy  of  the  fleet.     The  situa- 

•  Ilowel's  Interesting  Particulars,  p.  93,  13S,  16",  ir.>,  179. 


284  Propagation  of  Christianity 

tion  of  the  brethren  in  these  two  vessels  was  extremely 
different.  The  captain  and  principal  officers  of  the  frigate 
were  polite,  humane,  and  liberal,  and  afforded  their  guests 
every  accommodation  and  comfort  the  stores  of  the  ship 
could  supply.  The  commodore  and  his  first  captain,  on 
the  contrary,  were  imperious,  capricious  tyrants  to  those 
under  their  command,  and  cruel  unfeeling  monsters  toward 
strangers.  Devoid  of  common  decency,  they  frequently  put 
the  missionaries  to  the  blush;  without  common  humanity, 
they  as  often  put  their  feelings  on  the  rack.  Observing,  in- 
deed, the  uniform  propriety  of  the  missionaries'  behaviour, 
they  began  by  degrees  to  treat  them  somewhat  better,  par- 
ticularly Mr.  Howel,  whom  the  commodore  understood  to 
be  a  priest,  and  therefore  he  accommodated  him  with  a 
cabin  to  sleep  in,  allowed  him  the  use  of  his  own  apartments, 
and  admitted  him  to  his  table.  Being  set  at  liberty  on  their 
arrival  in  Lisbon,  they  lost  no  time  in  procuring  a  passage 
to  England,  where  most  of  them  arrived  about  the  middle 
of  October,  after  an  absence  of  nearly  ten  months,  in  the 
course  of  v/hich,  as  their  trials,  so  their  mercies  had  been 
neither  few  nor  small.* 

The  Missionary  Society  had  not  recovered  from  the  as- 
tonishment and  distress  which  the  first  intelligence  of  the 
capture  of  the  Duff  occasioned  them,  when  they  received 
tidings  from  Otaheite,  of  the  removal  of  most  of  the  mission, 
aries  from  that  island.  To  account  for  this  painful  event  it 
is  necessary  to  trace  the  history  of  the  mission  from  the  time 
of  captain  Wilson's  departure. 

Captain  Wilson  had  scarcely  left  the  island,  to  return  to 
England,  when  some  of  the  natives  formed  a  design  to  seize 
on  the  property  of  the  missionaries;  but,  for  the  present,  the 
plan  was  not  carried  into  effect.  They  were  constantly, 
however,  committing  depredations  upon  them,  and  in  this 
they  sometimes   manifested  not  a  little  ingenuity.     One 

•  Howel's  Interesting  Particulars,  p.  183,   196,  214,  217,  226,  207,  212,  265- 
(Gregory's  Journal,  passim. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  285 

morning  a  thief  was  discovered  to  have  entered  the  smith's 
shop,  and  carried  off  a  number  of  small  but  valuable  articles. 
The  manner  of  the  robbery  was  somewhat  curious,  and 
shews  the  artifice  and  dexterity  of  the  rogue.  He  appears 
not  to  have  had  a  knife,  as  by  simply  cutting  the  lashings  of 
the  sticks  that  formed  the  ivalls  of  the  shop,  he  might  have 
entered  it  with  far  less  trouble,  as  well  as  time.  Instead  of 
this,  therefore,  he  dug  out  the  sand  from  below,  apparently 
with  his  hands,  which  are  the  common  spade  of  the  natives, 
and  made  a  hole  large  enough  to  admit  himself  through,  to- 
gether with  the  stolen  articles,  under  the  ends  of  the  sticks, 
which  were  not  less  than  two  feet  deep  in  the  ground.  This 
operation  must  have  taken  him  considerable  time,  and  he 
must  have  been  under  perpetual  apprehension  of  detection 
by  the  watch,  who  was  walking  round  the  house,  and  must 
often  have  passed  him.  The  attention  of  the  watch,  indeed, 
was  once  attracted  to  the  place  where  the  man  was  at  work, 
but  the  fellow  had  so  coiled  himself  up  in  the  hole,  that  the 
guard  took  him  for  a  hog,  and  left  him  unmolested.  The 
thief,  however,  was  afterwards  discovered,  and  on  application 
to  the  chief  of  the  district,  the  articles  he  had  stolen  were 
restored  to  the  missionaries.* 

One  of  the  earliest  cares  of  the  missionaries,  was  the  es- 
tablishment of  an  hospital,  for  the  reception  of  sick  natives 
many  of  whom  were  languishing  under  the  A-enereal  and 
other  diseases.  A  few,  at  first,  did  come;  but  the  generality 
of  the  poor  creatures  seemed  afraid,  or  were  insensible  to 
the  benevolence  of  their  design.  Some  even  expected  a 
present  before  they  would  take  any  medicine,  and  it  was 
necessary  that  every  thing  should  be  sweet,  or  they  said  it 
was  not  good.  At  the  same  time,  they  had  not  the  least 
patience,  being  disappointed  unless  they  were  cured  in  three 
or  four  days.  One  day,  as  a  number  of  little  boys  were 
gathering  bread-fruit,  one  of  them  fell  from  the  tree  and 
fractured  his  arm.  Mr.  Clode,  one  of  tlic  missionaries,  im- 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  2,  P. 


286  Propagation  of  Christianity 

mediately  set  it,  and  for  five  days  it  remained  in  good  order; 
but  the  lad  being  wild  and  inattentive,  broke  it  again.  Mr. 
Clode  now  attempted  to  reset  it,  but  as  the  boy  was  in  great 
agony  for  several  hours,  his  father  came,  and  insisted  on 
taking  him  home,  saying  "  he  would  carry  him  to  a  native 
doctor,  and  pray  to  the  Eatoa,  and  then  he  would  soon 
recover."  The  missionaries  endeavoured  to  persuade  him 
to  allow  his  son  to  remain  with  them;  but  all  their  argu- 
ments were  in  vain.  Two  of  them,  therefore,  went  next 
morning  to  the  place,  which  was  several  miles  distant,  to  see 
the  boy;  but  on  their  arrival  they  found  he  had  died  in  the 
course  of  the  night.  He  had  been  placed,  it  seems,  in  a 
cold  running  water,  while  in  a  very  high  fever,  and  imme- 
diately expired.  The  father  acknowledged,  with  tears,  his 
error  in  taking  him  away,  and  was  lamenting  most  bitterly 
the  untimely  death  of  his  child.  Agreeably  to  the  custom 
of  tlie  island,  he  cut  himself  with  a  shark's  tooth,  and  had 
already  lost  a  considerable  quantity  of  blood,  which  he  care- 
fully caught  upon  a  piece  of  white  cloth,  and  laid  it  down  by 
the  deceased,  who  was  decorated  with  flowers,  and  a  garland 
round  his  head.  Sometime  after  this,  when  Temaree,  one 
of  the  chiefs  of  the  island,  was  severely  burned  by  an  ex- 
plosion of  gun-powder,  Mr.  Broomhall,  another  of  the  mis- 
sionaries who  possessed  some  knowledge  of  medicine,  was 
applied  to  for  assistance.  He  accordingly  went,  and  employ- 
ed what  he  considered  as  the  most  suitable  remedies.  When 
he  returned,  however,  the  next  day,  he  was  astonished  at  the 
appearance  of  his  patient,  who  was  now  daubed  all  over  with 
a  thick  white  paste,  which  he  understood  to  be  the  scrapings 
of  yams.  Both  the  chief  and  his  wife,  indeed,  were  migh- 
tily offended  with  Mr.  Broomhall,  and  would  allow  him  to  do 
nothing  further,  his  first  application,  they  said,  had  been  at- 
tended with  so  much  pain.  Otoo  the  king  likewise  seemed 
highly  displeased  with  him,  on  the  same  account;  and  Mr. 
Harris  had  even  considerable  apprehensions  that  he  intended 
to  murder  them,  though  for  this  there   seems  not  to  have 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society,  287 

been  the  smallest  foundation.  Afterwards,  indeed,  their 
wrath  seems  to  have  subsided;  for,  in  a  few  days,  Pomare 
applied  to  Mr.  Broomhall  to  revisit  the  chief,  who  was  now 
extremely  ill,  and  to  administer  something  to  him,  that 
would  cure  him  without  giving  him  pain.*  Thus  the  medi- 
cal skill  of  the  missionaries  was,  at  first,  not  only  of  little  use 
to  the  natives,  but  was  even  attended  with  danger  to  them- 
selves. It  is  obvious,  indeed,  that  among  savages  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine  must  be  followed  with  extreme  caution,  as 
when  a  patient  dies,  they  will  ever  be  ready  to  ascribe  the 
fatal  termination  of  his  disorder  to  the  remedies  employed, 
so  different  from  those  which  they  have  been  accustomed  to 
use,  and,  perhaps,  they  may  even  be  disposed  to  revenge  his 
death  on  the  medical  practitioner. 

But  while  the  missionaries  were  employed  in  these  and 
other  pursuits,  connected  with  the  great  object  of  their 
labours,  an  event  occurred  which  drove  most  of  them  off  the 
island,  and  even  threatened  the  extinction  of  the  mission. 
In  March  1798,  the  ship  Nautilus,  commanded  by  captain 
Bishop,  arrived  in  Matavai  bay,  and,  after  taking  in  refresh- 
ments, proceeded  on  her  voyage;  but  in  a  few  days  she  was 
driven  back  by  a  violent  gale  of  wind.  While  she  was  on 
the  island,  two  of  the  sailors  and  five  natives  of  Ovvhyhee, 
who  were  on  board,  made  their  escape  from  the  ship,  and 
secreted  themselves  on  shore.  The  chiefs  manifested  an 
intention  to  protect  them;  but  captain  Bishop  expressed 
his  determination  to  recover  them,  especially  the  seamen, 
cost  what  it  would.  With  this  view  he  made  application  to 
the  missionaries,  for  their  assistance;!  and  as  they  were  no 
less  anxious  than  himself  that  the  deserters  should  be  de- 
livered up,  they  resolved  to  send  a  deputation  to  the  three 
principal  chiefs  who  were  then  in  Opare,  Otoo,  Pomare, 
and  Temaree.  Messrs.  Jefferson,  Broomhall,  Main,  and 
William  Puckey,  accordingly  set  off  for  that  district,  and 
arrived  first  at  the  house  of  Temaree;   but  as  they  did  not 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.p.  3, 19,  75.        \  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  27,  29,  31. 


288  Propagation  of  Christianity 

think  it  proper  to  communicate  the  design  of  their  journey 
to  him  alone,  they  requested  him  to  accompany  them  to  the 
king's  house,  to  which  he  consented.  On  reaching  Otoo's 
habitation,  they  found  his  majesty  seated  amidst  a  number 
of  his  attendants,  and  employed  in  the  royal  exercise  of 
cleaning  a  small-tooth  comb.  He  received  them  with  the 
usual  salutations  of  friendship,  and  asked  them  the  occasion 
of  their  visit.  But  as  Pomare  was  still  wanting,  being  at  a 
place  about  two  miles  distant,  they  forbore  mentioning  it, 
until  he  also  should  arrive.  They  had  already  sent  off  for 
that  chief,  but  apprehending  that  the  messenger  might  be 
dilatory,  they  resolved  to  proceed  themselves  to  him,  and 
beg  him  to  come  and  meet  his  son  and  Temaree,  that  they 
might  unfold  the  business  to  them  all  together.  By  the  way, 
they  passed  many  of  the  Otaheitans,  who  saluted  them  with 
their  usual  frankness.  When  they  had  advanced  about  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile,  and  were  near  the  banks  of  a  river  which 
they  had  to  ford,  they  found  themselves  accompanied  by 
about  thirty  of  the  natives;  but  of  this  they  took  no  notice, 
as  it  was  a  usual  thing  in  their  journies,  until  suddenly  three 
or  four  of  them  laid  hold  on  Mr.  Broomhall's  coat,  which 
he  had  taken  off,  and  was  carrying  under  his  arm,  and  began 
to  wrest  it  from  him.  Mr.  Jefferson  went  to  his  assistance, 
and  asked  them  why  they  acted  in  such  a  manner.  Turning 
his  head  round,  he  beheld  Puckey,  on  the  ground,  and  a 
number  of  the  natives  stripping  him  with  great  avidity,  after 
which  they  dragged  him  to  the  river,  by  the  hair  of  the  head, 
and  made  some  attempts,  as  it  were,  to  drown  him.  Casting 
his  eyes  in  a  different  direction,  he  saw  Main  in  the,  hands 
of  some  others,  who  were  tearing  the  clothes  off  his  back. 
At  that  instant,  Jefferson  himself  was  seized  by  four  or  five 
of  the  natives,  who  began  to  pull  him  violently  in  different 
ways,  contending  with  each  other  who  should  have  his  clothes 
which  they  would  not  give  him  time  to  unbutton,  but  strip- 
ped them  off  as  fast  as  they  were  abk.  In  the  course  of 
the  scuflEle,  they  dragged  him  through  the  river,  but  without 


hij  the  London  Missionary  Sociefij.  289 

materially  injuring  him,  though  he  expected  nothing  short 
of  death  from  their  savage  brutality.  They  now  seemed 
undetermined  what  to  do  with  him.  One  was  for  taking 
him  to  the  mountains,  another  towards  the  sea,  but  he  him- 
self intreated  them  to  carry  him  to  Pomare.  Many  of  the 
natives,  who  had  no  concern  in  the  affair,  now  collected 
togetlier,  and,  seeming  to  feel  for  his  situation,  attempted 
to  rescue  him  out  of  their  hands.  During  the  short  contest 
which  ensued,  Puckey  and  Main  were  hurried  before  him 
perfectly  naked,  except  a  narrow  slip  of  cloth  round  their 
loins.  Jefferson  requested  those  who  had  now  the  charge  of 
him  to  conduct  him,  and  his  two  brethren  to  Pomare,  a  pro- 
posal to  which  they  readily  agreed.  As  they  passed  along, 
the  missionaries  were  pleased  to  see  the  women  express  their 
compassion  for  them  by  their  tears.  At  length  they  came  to 
Pomare,  whom  they  foujid  under  a  shed  by  the  sea- side, 
with  his  wife  Ideah,  and  a  few  attendants,  and  were  received 
by  them  with  the  utmost  humanity.  They  were  immediate- 
ly supplied  with  cloth  to  cover  them,  and  were  made  as  easy 
as  possible,  by  the  promise  of  protection  to  themselves  and 
their  brethren.  Still,  however,  they  were  anxious  about  the 
safety  of  Mr.  Broomhall,  and  therefore  they  asked  the  chief 
to  send  in  quest  of  him,  a  proposal  to  which  he  readily  con- 
sented.* 

After  resting  about  an  hour,  the  three  missionaries,  accom- 
panied by  Pomare  and  Ideah,  proceeded  on  their  return  to 
Matavai.  Shortly  before  they  came  to  the  place  where  they 
were  stripped  by  the  natives,  Mr.  Broomhall  joined  them. 
The  savages  had  more  than  once  threatened  to  murder  him. 
He  not  only,  however,  escaped  with  his  life,  but  was  per- 
mitted to  retain  his  shirt,  trowsers,  and  watch;  and  the  king, 
to  whose  house  he  was  taken,  procured  him  likewise  his  hat. 
On  their  arrival,  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  at  the 
mission  house,  they  found  their  brethren  under  arms,  for  the 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  33. 
VOL.  II.  2  0 


290  Propagation  of  Christianity 

other  missionaries  had  not  only  received  inteUigence  of  the 
disaster  from  a  boy  whom  Mr.  Broomhall  had  despatched 
for  the  purpose,  but  they  were  much  alarmed  by  various  re- 
ports, as  if  the  natives  designed  to  attack  their  little  settle- 
ment, and  therefore  they  had  put  themselves  in  a  posture  of 
self-defence.* 

Alarmed  to  a  high  degree  by  this  disaster  and  these  re- 
ports, a  meeting  of  the  missionaries  was  called  next  morning, 
and  while  they  were  yet  in  a  state  of  the  utmost  consterna- 
tion, the  greater  part  of  them  came  to  a  hasty  resolution  to 
leave  Otaheite,  and  to  proceed,  in  the  Nautilus,  to  Port 
Jackson.  Before  their  departure,  however,  Manne  Manne 
the  high  priest  came  to  Matavai,  with  a  messenger  from 
Pomare,  to  the  four  missionaries  who  had  been  stripped  in 
Opare,  together  with  a  chicken  and  a  young  plantain  tree, 
as  an  atonement  and  peace-offering  to  them.  At  the  same 
time,  most  of  the  articles  of  which  they  had  been  plunder- 
ed were  restored  to  them.  When  the  natives  understood 
that  most  of  the  missionaries,  together  with  the  women  and 
children,  designed  to  quit  the  island,  it  seemed  to  give  them 
some  degree  of  concern  But  notwithstanding  these  favour- 
able appearances,  eleven  of  the  missionaries,  namely,  Messrs. 
James  Fleet  Cover,  William  Henry, f  Rowland  Hassel, 
Francis  Oakes,  Edward  Main,  Peter  Hodges,  James  Puckey, 
William  Puckey,  Samuel  Clode,  John  Cock,  and  William 
Smith,  together  with  four  women  and  four  children,  em- 
barked, without  delay,  on  board  the  Nautilus,  and  after  a 
disagreeable  voyage  of  about  six  weeks,  they  arrived  at  Port 
Jackson,  where  they  met  with  a  very  friendly  reception  from 
his  excellency  Mr.  Hunter,  the  governor,  and  from  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Johnson,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Marsden,  the  chaplains  of 
the  setdement.  Encouraged  by  these  gentlemen,  they  made 
some  attempts  to  promote  the  interests  of  religion  in  the 

•  Miss,  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  36. 

t  Mr,  Henrv  afterwards  returned  to  Otaheite  with  his  family. 


by   the  London  Missionary  Society.  291 

colony;  but  their  exertions  were  attended  with  little  or  no 
success.  Some  of  them,  indeed,  turned  out  extremely  ill, 
so  that  their  removal  i'rom  Otaheite,  instead  of  being  hurt- 
ful, may  rather  be  considered  as  benelicial  to  the  mission. 
It  is  likewise  not  unworthy  of  notice,  that  the  missionaries 
who  fled  to  New  South  Wales,  appear  to  have  been  exposed 
to  greater  danger,  and  to  have  suffered  severer  trials,  than 
their  brethren  who  remained  in  Otaheite.  Mr.  Hassel  was 
robbed  of  nearly  all  he  possessed,  and  dangerously  wounded 
by  six  ruffians,  \vho  broke  into  his  lodgings  near  Paramatta; 
and  Mr.  Clode  was  inhumanly  murdered,  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Sydney,  under  circumstances  of  such  a  tragical  na- 
ture, that  it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  give  a  more  particu- 
lar detail  of  this  unfortunate  event.* 

Mr.  Clode  had  been  upwards  of  a  year  in  New  South 
Wales,  when  he  resolved  to  return  to  England,  and  was  now 
making  preparations  for  the  voyage.  Having  lent,  however, 
some  little  money  to  a  soldier  of  the  name  of  Jones,  who 
was  a  townsman  of  his  own,  he  thought  it  necessary  to  ask 
payment  of  it;  and  after  some  altercation,  the  fellow  desired 
him  to  call  on  the  Tuesday  following,  and  he  would  settle 
with  him.  About  four  o'clock  that  afternoon,  Mr.  Clode 
called  at  the  Rev.  Mr.  Johnson's,  sat  a  iit\Y  minutes,  and  then 
took  his  leave  for  the  night,  promising  to  call  again  next 
morning  with  some  medicine  for  one  of  the  family,  who 
was  at  that  time  indisposed.  Instead,  however,  of  seeing 
his  friend  next  morning,  Mr.  Johnson  was  horrified  with  the 
tidings  that  he  was  murdered,  and  was  found  in  a  saw-pit 
under  water,  with  his  scull  fractured  in  different  places,  and 
his  throat  cut  from  ear  to  ear.  The  news  of  this  shocking 
event  soon  spread  in  all  directions.  Numbers  of  people  of 
every  description  ran  to  the  spot,  and  among  others  Jones,  the 
man  already  mentioned,  who  charged  the  person  who  found 
the  deceased  in  this  melancholy   condition   with  the  horrid 

•  Miss.  Trans  vol.  i  p.  57,  71,  319.  F-van.  Mag-,  vol.  vi.i.  p.  298,  ^0?->:  vol.  x. 
p.  7 J. 


292  Propagation  of  Christianity 

deed.  Suspicions,  however,  having  fallen  upon  Jones  him- 
self, die  path  leading  from  die  pit  to  his  house  was  closely 
examined,  and  blood  was  traced  to  the  very  door,  besides 
some  of  the  brains  of  the  deceased  lying  in  several  places. 
On  making  further  search  in  the  house,  blood  was  discov- 
ered in  different  parts,  particularly  in  a  small  skilling.  An 
axe  likewise  was  found  with  blood  and  brains  upon  it,  though 
it  had  been  previously  washed;  a  knife  and  blanket  were 
discovered  in  the  same  state;  and  upon  examining  the  per- 
son of  Jones,  blood  was  found  upon  one  of  his  fingers. — 
These  and  other  circumstances,  having  fully  confirmed  the 
suspicions  of  Jones'  guilt,  he  together  with  his  wife,  and  two 
other  men  who  lived  in  their  house,  were  immediately  ap- 
prehended; and  on  the  \'ery  next  day  a  criminal  court  was 
convened  for  their  trial,  when  three  of  them,  namcl}^,  Jones, 
his  wife,  and  Elbray,  were  convicted  on  the  clearest  evi- 
dence; and  the  fourth,  though  acquitted,  was  suspected  to 
be  at  least  pi  ivy  to  the  deed.  After  their  conviction,  they 
Avere  confined  in  separate  places,  for  the  purpose  of  obtain- 
ing a  more  full  confession  of  this  murder,  as  well  as  of  others 
it  was  conjectured  that  Jones  had  committed.  He  continu- 
ed, however,  hardened  to  the  last,  and  his  wife  was  little 
better;  but  Elbray,  struck  with  remorse,  made  a  full  acknow- 
ledgement of  the  whole  transaction.* 

The  scheme,  he  said,  was  planned  by  Jones  and  his  wife 
on  the  Sunday.  They  asked  him  to  assist  in  it,  but  he  at 
first  refused;  and  therefore,  to  gain  him  over,  Jones  gave  him 
several  drams  of  spirits,  and  on  the  Tuesday  morning  ob- 
tained his  consent  to  the  horrid  deed.  Trotman,  the  other 
man  who  was  tried  but  acouitted,  was  sent  with  Jones'  two 
children  to  a  sctder's  farm  for  turnips;  and  as  they  expected 
Mr.  Clode  before  dinner,  it  was  the  intention  of  the  other 
three  to  despatch  him  before  their  return;  but  as  he  did  not 
come  so  soon  as  they  apprehended,  they  were  obliged  to 
alter  their  plan.     About  four  o'clock,  two  other  soldiers 

*  Evan.  xMag-.  ^ol.  vili.  p.  299. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  293 

called  in  purposely  to  drink  tea.  Jones  and  Elbray  were  at 
that  time  looking  out  for  Mr.  Clode,  and  having  observed 
him  coming  down  the  hill  at  a  distance,  they  went  into  the 
house,  and  Jones  proposed  that  his  wife,  together  with  the 
two  soldiers,  Trotman  and  the  children,  should  go  and  look 
at  a  piece  of  wood  which  he  was  said  to  be  cutting  for  a 
canoe,  a  proposal  to  which  they  consented.  Mr.  Clode  hav- 
ing in  the  meanwhile  come  to  the  door,  was  asked  in,  and  a 
chair  was  set  for  him  near  the  table  to  settle  his  accounts. 
An  axe  was  placed  in  a  corner  of  the  room,  with  which 
Elbray,  coming  behind  him,  was  to  knock  him  down.  With 
this  view  he  took  it  up  in  his  hand,  but  his  heart  failing  him, 
he  laid  it  down  again  and  went  out  of  the  house.  Return- 
ing, however,  in  a  short  time,  he  heard  Jones  give  the  first 
blow,  and  the  inhuman  wretch  repeated  the  strokes  so  often, 
that  even  Elbray  himself  at  last  cried  out,  "  For  God's  sake 
Jones,  you  have  knocked  him  all  to  pieces."  They  then 
dragged  him  into  the  skilling;  and  after  they  had  both  come 
out,  Jones  went  into  it  again,  and  coming  out  a  second  time, 
took  up  a  large  knife.  Elbray  having  asked  him  what  he 
was  going  to  do  with  it,  he  replied,  "  D — n  him,  he  moves, 
he  is  not  dead."  He  accordingly  went  in  again,  and  cut  his 
throat  from  ear  lo  ear,  after  which  he  returned,  both  the  knife 
and  his  hands  still  reeking  with  blood.  These  he  immedi- 
ately washed,  whilst  Elbray  scattered  ashes  over  the  room 
to  conceal  the  blood  upon  the  floor.  The  windov/  shutters 
were  then  put  on,  and  the  tea  things  set  against  the  return 
of  the  company.  After  tea,  liquor  was  brought  upon  the 
table,  and  several  songs  were  sung  by  Jones,  his  wife,  and 
others.  About  nine  o'clock,  Jones  and  Elbray  went  out, 
when  they  dragged  the  body  of  the  deceased  through  a  hole 
in  the  skilling;  and  taking  it  upon  their  shoulders,  carried  it 
to  the  sawpit,  threw  it  in,  and  covered  it  over  with  green 
bouglis.  Having  finished  the  work,  they  returned  to  the 
company,  and  with  a  diabolical  insensibility,  kept  up  their 
jovial  mirth  till  after  midnight.     It  was  not  long,  however, 


294  Propagation  of  Christianity 

before  the  horrid  deed  was  brought  to  light.  Providentially, 
a  man  had  been  at  work  for  several  days  upon  the  ground  in 
the  neigbourhood  of  the  pit,  and  in  the  evening  he  used  to 
leave  his  hoe  in  this  very  place.  On  going  next  morning 
to  look  for  it,  he  was  surprised  to  see  the  pit  covered  with  so 
many  green  boughs;  and  suspected  that  some  stolen  proper- 
ty might  be  under  them,  he  began  to  remove  them,  when, 
lo  his  astonisment,  he  discovered  the  hand  of  a  dead  man. 
He  then  called  out  to  another  person  who  was  cutting  fire- 
wood at  a  small  distance:  three  or  four  others  came  at  the 
same  time,  among  whom  was  Jones,  who  immediately  charg- 
ed the  man  who  had  discovered  Mr.  Clode  in  this  melan- 
choly condition  with  the  horrid  deed,  and  wanted  to  tie  his 
hands  with  an  handkerchief,  and  take  him  into  the  camp  a 
prisoner.  The  wretch  now  came  into  the  camp  with  tidings 
of  the  murder,  expressed  his  concern  for  the  death  of  a  man 
he  so  dearly  loved,  and  to  whom  he  was  so  deeply  indebted 
for  his  attention  to  him  and  his  family  in  times  of  sickness, 
and  again  endeavoured  to  throw  the  blame  of  it  upon  the 
person  who  first  discovered  the  deceased.  From  the  tale 
he  told,  and  the  concurrence  of  other  circumstances,  the 
man  was  committed  to  prison;  but  at  the  very  time  Jones 
was  talking  in  this  manner,  another  person  came  up  and 
said  to  him,  "  Jones,  you  are  the  murderer!  Blood  is  traced 
from  the  pit  to  your  door."  He  then  began  to  protest  his 
innocence;  and  when  he  was  taken  to  the  pit  and  ordered  to 
look  at  the  body,  and  to  touch  it,  he  replied,  "  Yes  I  will, 
and  kiss  him  too,  if  you  please;  for  I  loved  him  as  my 
brother."* 

That  the  wretch  had  reason  to  love  Mr.  Clode,  appears 
from  his  wife's  declaration  to  Mr.  Johnson  while  she  was 
under  sentence  of  death.  When  he  was  speaking  to  her  of 
the  horrid  deed,  and  lamenting  the  unhappy  end  of  a  friend 
he  so  highly  esteemed,  she  made  this  reply,  "  O  sir,  that 
dear  man  was  the  saving  both  of  my  life  and  the  life  of  my 

*  Evan.  Mag.  vol.  viii.  p.  300. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  /-?:? 

husband.  His  attention  to  Trotman  was  such  as  \  ^^ 
saw  in  any  other  person  in  my  life.  Three  times 
came  to  visit  him,  washing  and  cleaning  his  sores;  a  lad 
it  not  been  for  his  attention,  he  would  certainly  have  lose  his 
hand."*  Who  can  hear  such  a  declaration,  and  not  shud- 
der to  think  that  monsters  exist  in  the  world  who  couli  mur- 
der the  man  to  whom  they  were  under  so  many  and  so  great 
obligations! 

By  an  order  from  the  governor,  the  house  in  which  the 
murder  was  perpetrated  was  pulled  down  on  the  Saturday, 
and  burnt  to  ashes,  a  temporary  gallows  was  erected  upon 
tlie  spot;  and  at  twelve  o'clock  the  three  inhuman  wretches 
were  conveyed  in  a  cart  to  the  place,  and  were  there  launch- 
ed into  eternity,  to  appear  before  the  tribunal  of  the  Great 
Judge  of  the  world.  The  bodies  of  the  two  men  were  hung 
in  chains  near  the  place;  that  of  the  woman  was  given  to  the 
surgeons  for  dissection.! 

In  the  meanwhile,  Mr.  Johnson  had  given  directions  to 
have  the  body  of  Mr.  Clode  brought  into  the  town,  and  or- 
dered a  decent  shroud  and  coffin  to  be  prepared  for  it.  Num- 
l^ers  of  people  came  to  see  it,  and  many  of  them  lamented, 
with  tears,  his  untimely  end.  On  Friday,  his  body  was 
committed  to  the  cold  and  silent  grave.  The  pall  was  borne 
by  Dr.  Harris,  other  four  surgeons,  and  captain  Wilkinson, 
the  commander  of  the  ship  in  whicli  he  was  to  have  sailed 
for  England.  His  excellency  the  governor,  and  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Johnson,  walked  before  the  corpse;  Messrs.  Cover, 
Henry,  Hassel,  Smith,  Oakes,  and  the  two  Puckeys,  behind 
it;  and  after  them  several  officers  and  others.  After  the 
burial  service  was  read,  a  hymn  was  given  out  by  Mr.  Cover; 
Mr.  Johnson  then  spoke  a  little  on  the  melancholy  occasion. 
Many  were  in  tears,  and  he  himself,  was  so  much  affected 
that  he  was  scarcely  able  to  proceed.  He  appears,  indeed, 
to  have  had  a  particular  attachment  to  Mr.  Clodc,   and  h^- 

*  Kvun.  ^lujj.  vol.  vili.  p.  301.  t  Ibid. 


296  Propagation  of  Christianity 

informs  us  that  his  conduct  as  a  Christian  was  both  humble 
and  exemplary;  as  a  surgeon,  humane  and  attentive;  and  as 
a  missionary,  he  spent  much  of  his  time  among  the  natives, 
by  Avhom,  as  well  as  by  persons  of  every  description  in  the 
colony,  he  lived  beloved,  and  died  lamented.* 

After  the  departure  of  the  eleven  missionaries  to  Port 
Jackson,  seven  others  still  remained  in  Otaheite,  namely, 
Messrs.  Eyre,  Jefferson,  Lewis,  Broomhall,  Harris,  Bick- 
nell,  and  Nott.  With  the  view  of  removing  all  temptation 
to  do  violence  to  their  persons  for  the  sake  of  their  property, 
they  immediately  delivered  up  the  blacksmith's  shop,  and 
the  public  store-room,  into  the  hands  of  Pomare,  and  they 
at  the  same  time  offered  to  surrender  to  him  their  private  ef- 
fects if  he  desired  it;  but  this  he  was  so  honourable  as  to  de- 
cline.! Jealousy  and  fear,  however,  continued  to  haunt  their 
minds;  nor  was  it  altogether  without  apparent  reason.  Re- 
ports of  the  people's  design  to  attack  and  plunder  them  were 
constantly  reaching  their  ears;  attempts  were  even  made, 
almost  every  night,  to  rob  them  of  what  few  articles  they 
still  possessed;  the  natives  were  often  extremely  tumultuous 
in  their  behaviour,  and  now  took  liberties  with  them  which 
they  durst  not  before  have  used;  rumours  of  war  were  like- 
wise prevalent  through  the  country:  AH  these  circumstances 
combined,  could  not  fail  to  distress  the  missionaries,  and  to 
increase  those  fears  which  the  human  mind,  in  such  a  situa- 
tion, is  so  naturally  disposed  to  form.  In  a  short  time,  in- 
deed,  war  actually  began.  Pomare  having  killed  two  of  the 
men  of  Opare,  on  account  of  the  assault  made  on  the  four 
missionaries,  the  inhabitants  of  that  district  rose  in  arms  to 
revenge  their  death.  Peace  was  offered  them,  but  they  re- 
jected the  offer.  The  chief,  therefore,  attacked  them  with- 
out delay,  drove  them  back  to  the  mountains,  laid  waste 
their  habitations,  and  killed  about  thirteen  of  them;  after 
which  they  were  glad  to  listen  to  terms  of  accommodation. $ 

*  Evan.  Mag.  vol.  viii.  p-  302.  f  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  39. 

i  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  44,  47- 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  297 

By  degrees,  the  apprehensions  of  the  missionaries  subsi- 
ded, as  it  appeared  that  the  natives  had  no  serious  design  to 
injure  them,  either  in  their  persons  or  property.  But  when 
they  began  to  enjoy  peace  from  without,  a  circumstance  oc- 
curred among  themselves  which  occasioned  them  inexpres- 
sible distress.  Mr.  Lewis,  who  had  of  late  resided  by  him- 
self at  a  place  called  Ahonoo,  declared  his  determination  to 
take  one  of  the  native  women  as  his  wife.  For  some  time 
past,  indeed,  his  behaviour  towards  the  Otaheitan  females 
had  been  extremely  indecent.  Several  of  the  missionaries 
had  repeatedly  spoken  to  him  on  the  subject,  in  private,  and 
they  had  likewise  adverted  to  the  impropriety  of  such  prac- 
tices in  their  public  discourses.  But  as  he  had  neglect- 
ed or  despised  these  early  cautions,  it  was  now^  in  vain  that 
they  remonstrated  wath  him  on  the  impropriety  and  unlaw- 
fulness of  the  measure  he  proposed:  and  as  a  few  months  be- 
fore, when  this  very  question  was  agitated  among  them,  it 
was  agreed,  that  should  any  of  their  number  connect  him- 
self with  a  Heathen  woman,  he  should  no  longer  be  con- 
sidered  as  a  missionary,  or  as  a  member  of  the  church,  they 
not  only  refused  to  sanction  his  marriage,  by  performing  the 
usual  ceremony,  but  on  the  foUow^ing  day  they  proceeded  to 
pass  sentence  of  excommunication  upon  him.  This  certain^ 
ly  was  a  harsh  and  precipitate  step.  Of  the  unlawfulness  of 
Mr.  Lewis'  proposal  there  can  be  no  doubt,  since  it  is  con- 
trary to  the  express  injunctions  of  scripture;  yet  surely  his 
bretlircn  should  have  employed  friendly  expostulations  with 
him  in  private,  and  church  censures  of  a  gentler  nature,  be- 
fore they  had  recourse  to  so  severe  a  sentence.  Mr.  Lewis 
had  not  yet,  at  least  professedly,  consummated  his  marriage^ 
time,  therefore,  might  have  been  allowed  to  elapse,  to  set; 
whether  he  would  proceed  to  such  a  measure.  We  cannot, 
indeed,  but  remark,  that  however  culpable  his  conduct  was, 
yet  the  behaviour  of  his  brethren  towards  him  appears  to 
have  been  throughout  unfeeling,  ungenerous,  and  unkindj 
and  afterwards,  when  he  made  some  proposals  for  an  accom- 

VOL   .11.  2  P 


298  Propagation  of  Christianity 

modation  with  them,  tliey  by  no  means  manifested  that  rea- 
diness to  listen  to  them,  which  the  spirit  of  Christianity  re- 
quired. They  continued,  indeed,  to  supply  him  with  such 
articles  as  he  desired,  as  far  as  was  in  their  power;  and  it  is 
proper  also  to  add,  that  he,  together  with  his  wife,  uniformly 
attended  public  worship  on  the  Lord's  day,  and  he  was  at  the 
same  time  regular  in  attending  to  prayer,  and  the  reading  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures  in  private.* 

In  this  state  of  excommunication  from  the  church,  Mr. 
Lewis  was  so  unhappy  as  to  remain  until  his  death,  which 
happened  about  the  end  of  November  1799,  nearly  sixteen 
months  after  he  was  excluded  by  his  brethren.  It  was  sud- 
den and  unexpected,  and  the  cause  of  it  was  never  fully  un- 
ravelled. After  having  ascertained  the  fact,  some  of  the  mis- 
sionaries went  to  his  habitation,  and  on  their  arrival  they 
found  his  body  dressed  in  a  check  shirt,  a  light  waistcoat,  a 
pair  of  trowsers,  and  shoes  on  his  feet.  It  was  lying  on  a 
bedstead,  under  the  roof  of  his  house,  but  not  in  his  sleep- 
ing apartment,  and  was  covered  with  a  piece  of  country 
cloth.  His  forehead,  his  face,  his  belly,  and  his  left  arm, 
were  severely  bruised;  a  deep  cut  extended  over  one  of  the 
corners  of  his  mouth,  tow^ard  the  nose;  there  was  also  a 
scratch  or  two  on  his  hands,  but  no  where  any  appearance  of 
fracture.  On  turning  him  round,  nothing  like  external  vio- 
lence was  discovered  on  his  back;  but  the  blood  gushed  from 
his  right  ear  as  from  a  fountain,  and  a  thin  ichorous  matter, 
of  a  dark  brown  colour,  and  a  disagreeable  smell,  bubbled 
through  his  lips.  His  belly  was  prodigiously  distended,  and 
scarcely  yielded  to  the  greatest  pressure;  but  in  the  small 
degree  in  which  it  did  yield,  it  greatly  increased  the  dis- 
charge from  his  mouth.  Thougli  he  had  been  dead  only 
about  eighteen  or  nineteen  hours,  according  to  the  account 
of  the  natives,  the  corpse  was  already  extremely  offensive.! 

On  examining  into  the  circumstances  of  his  death,  the  re- 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  I.  p.  125.  \  Ibkl.  145,  14!). 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  299 

jjorts  of  the  natives  were  very  various  and  contradictory. 
One  said,  that  like  a  man  out  of  his  senses,  he  ran  against 
the  boards  of  his  room,  first  at  one  end,  then  at  the  other; 
next  on  one  side,  afterwards  on  the  other;  last  of  all,  he  ran 
out  at  the  door,  threw  himself  headlong  among  the  stones, 
and  so  was  killed.  A  second  said,  that  he  was  ill  and  died 
in  bed  about  the  middle  of  the  day.  A  third  declared  that 
lie  was  not  ill,  but  that  he  died  suddenly.  At  first  his  wife, 
with  whom  he  apj)ears  to  have  lived  on  very  unhappy  terms, 
and  who  displa}'ed  the  utmost  insensibility  on  this  occasion, 
represented  him  as  having-  killed  himself  by  dashing  his  head 
against  the  stones.  Afterwards,  however,  when  more  par- 
ticularly questioned  on  the  subject,  she  stated  no  such  cir- 
cumstance; but  said,  that  after  preparing  for  bed,  he  went  to 
the  door,  and  walked  for  some  time  up  and  down  the  pave- 
ment; at  last,  she  heard  him  fall,  and  going  out  with  a  lamp, 
she  found  him  fallen  upon  a  stone,  and  the  blood  running 
from  the  wounds.  Laying  down  the  light,  she  ran  for  her 
parents,  who  lived  at  the  distance  of  about  twenty  yards;  and 
on  her  return  with  them,  he  was  quite  dead.  Her  testimo- 
ny, indeed,  was  extremely  suspicious,  not  only  from  the  cir- 
cumstance of  this  striking  variation,  but  there  was  a  man 
who  appeared  to  act  as  her  prompter,  and  at  one  time,  after 
telling  her  what  to  say,  turned  to  his  companions,  and  said 
in  a  private  manner:  "  That  is  one  part,  but  say  nothing 
about  stones  following."  Other  accounts,  indeed,  stated, 
that  Mr.  Lewis  was  killed  by  some  of  the  natives;  and  up- 
wards of  a  twelvemonth  after  it  was  expressly  reported  to 
the  missionaries,  that  he  was  murdered  by  certain  persons 
of  the  place  where  he  resided,  and  on  account  of  the  woman 
with  whom  he  had  so  unhappily  connected  himself.  Though 
the  evidence  is  certainly  by  no  means  decisive,  yet  we  are 
strongly  inclined  to  believe  that  Mr.  Lewis  fell  a  sacrifice  to 
the  treachery  of  the  natives.*" 

♦  Miss.  Tmis.  vol.  i.  p.  147,  217. 


'"500  Propagation  of  Christiamty 

Scarcely  had  six  months  elapsed  after  this  melancholy 
event,  ^\'hen  the  missionaries  in  Otaheite  met  with  a  new  and 
unexpected  trial.  Mr.  Broomhall,  one  of  their  number,  de- 
clared himself  an  infidel.  For  a  considerable  time  past,  in- 
deed, a  great  want  of  spirituality  had  been  observed  in  his 
prayers;  and  in  his  sermons,  the  name  of  Christ  was  scarcely 
so  much  as  mentioned.  After  this  change  took  place  in 
his  religious  sentiments,  he  became  intimate  with  a  young 
M'oman,  a  visitor  of  Pomare's  sister;  though  when  urged  by 
the  natives  to  live  with  her,  he  told  them  he  would  not  do 
so,  till  he  had  declared  himself  no  priest;  that  is,  that  he  was 
no  longer  a  missionary.  In  vain  did  his  brethren  reason; 
in  vain  did  they  expostulate  with  him:  Mr.  Broomhall  was 
proof  against  all  their  arguments,  though  he  was  so  candid 
as  to  acknowledge  that  he  now  enjoyed  far  less  happiness  than 
formerly,  when  he  possessed  the  supports  and  comforts  of 
religion.  The  missionaries  themselves,  we  suppose,  must 
now  have  been  sensible  of  the  undue  severity  of  their  con- 
duct to  the  unfortunate  Mr.  Lewis;  in  their  treatment  of  Mr. 
Broomhall,  at  least,  they  acted  with  far  less  precipitation, 
and  with  far  greater  moderation.  Finding  him,  however, 
obstinate  in  his  infidel  principles,  they  at  length  suspended 
him  from  all  office  in  the  church,  and  from  the  ordinance  of 
the  Lord's  Supper;  and  as  this  had  no  salutary  effect  upon 
him,  they  afterwards  passed  sentence  of  excommunication 
upon  him.  For  a  considerable  time  past,  there  had  been 
very  suspicious  circumstances  with  regard  to  him  and  some 
of  the  females  of  Otaheite;  and  immediately  after  his  excom- 
munication, he  avowedly  connected  himself  with  one  of 
them.  He  lived  with  her  in  the  same  house  as  the  mission- 
aries for  a  number  of  weeks;  but  as  she  then  left  him  and 
slept  with  another  man,  he  took  a  second  mistress,  with 
whom  he  cohabited  until  his  departure  from  the  island.  Such 
were  tlie  moral  effects,  or  probably  such  rather  was  the  cause 
af  his  infidel  principles.* 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  \77.    Evan.  Majj. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society,  301 

In  May  1800,  before  intelligence  of  these  painful  events 
could  reach  England,  twelve  new  missionaries  sailed  for 
Otaheite  in  the  Royal  Admiral,  a  ship  with  convicts  for  New 
South  Wales,  commanded  by  captain  William  Wilson,  who 
had  been  one  of  the  mates  of  the  Duff,  in  both  her  voyages 
to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Scarcely  had  they  left  their  native 
land,  when  they  discovered  that  the  prisoners  brought  with 
them  had  not  only  impaired  constitutions,  but  the  seeds  of 
A'arious  diseases;  and  that  now  when  so  great  a  number  as 
three  hundred  were  crowded  together,  the  prison  became  the 
nursery  of  these  disorders.  Besides  flux  and  scurvy,  a 
malignant  putrid  fever  broke  out  among  them,  and  spread 
most  alarmingly,  especially  while  they  sailed  through  the 
torrid  zone.  During  the  voyage  to  Rio  Janeiro,  more  than 
one  half  of  the  convicts,  besides  many  of  the  sailors,  were 
taken  ill  of  this  and  other  disorders;  and  the  whole  number 
who  died  on  board  the  vessel,  amounted  to  no  fewer  than 
forty,  among  whom,  unfortunately,  was  Mr.  Turner  the  sui'- 
geon.  Near  the  latitude  where  the  Duff  was  captured,  they 
fell  in  with  three  French  Frigates,  and  would  no  doubt 
have  been  taken  by  them,  had  not  God  in  his  providence 
inclined  the  commodore  to  accompany  them  to  Rio  Janeiro. 
On  their  arrival  at  that  port,  the  fever  disappeared;  but  it 
afterwards  broke  out  again,  not  only  among  the  convicts, 
but  among  the  missionaries,  most  of  whom  caught  it,  and 
Mr.  Morris,  one  of  them,  died.  During  the  voyage  the' mis- 
sionaries were  not  idle,  but  laboured,  with  great  assiduit}-, 
in  communicating  religious  instruction  to  the  crew,  and  par- 
ticularly to  the  unfortunate  convicts.  For  sometime  they 
daily  went  down  to  the  orlop  deck,  the  place  where  the  mis- 
erable creatures  were  confined,  and  read  and  explained  the 
Scriptures,  conversed,  and  prayed  with  them;  and  though 
they  were  a  body  of  ignorant  hardened  wretches,  yet  some 
of  them  appeared  anxious  for  instruction,  and  two  prayer 
meetir.fjs  were  Cotablished  among  them.  Afterwards,  when 
the  fcv:  ■■J  and  '.ecame  so  ve^'-    '        "    <.   the  mis- 


302  Propagation  of  Christianity 

sionaries  judged  it  inexpedient  to  visit  them  in  prison;  but 
they  still  embraced  every  opportunity  of  speaking  to  them 
on  the  subject  of  religion,  when  they  were  brought  on  deck 
to  get  the  air.  * 

Having  landed  the  convicts  at  Port  Jackson,  captain  Wil- 
son proceeded  with  the  missionaries  to  Otaheite,  where  he 
arrived  in  the  beginning  of  July  1801.  Messrs.  John  Youl, 
James  Elder,  William  Scott,  John  Davies,  William  Waters, 
Charles  Wilson,  James  Hayward,  and  Samuel  Tessier,t 
landed  on  the  island,  and  met  with  a  cordial  reception,  not 
only  from  their  brethren,  but  from  the  chiefs  and  the  people. 
Having  met  by  appointment  with  Ottoo  the  king,  Pomare, 
and  others  of  the  chiefs,  captain  Wilson  spoke  to  them  con- 
cerning the  reasons  which  induced  the  missionaries  original- 
ly to  come  among  them,  the  reception  they  gave  them  on 
their  arrival,  and  the  benefits  they  had  already  derived  from 
them:  He  mentioned  a  few  instances  in  which  the  brethren 
had  been  ill-treated,  and  endeavoured  to  convince  them  how 
easy  it  would  be  for  him  to  retaliate  upon  them;  that  these 
things  were  known  in  Britain;  but  the  chiefs  there,  still 
wishing  to  do  them  good,  had  sent  other  men  in  the  room 
of  those  whom  their  violence  had  driven  away,  and  expected 
them  to  be  better  treated.  Then  taking  each  of  the  new 
missionaries  by  the  hand,  and  leading  tliem  up  to  each  of  the 
chiefs,  he  introduced  them  by  name.  With  this  ceremony 
they  were  much  pleased,  and  promised  to  protect  and  sup- 
port them  to  the  utmost  of  their  power.  Before  he  went 
away.  However,  Pomare  inquired.  Whether  the  new  set- 
tlers would  not  fight  for  him?  Captain  Wilson  replied,  '<  No, 
they  would  light  none,   unless  in  defending  themselves  in 

*  Evan.  xVIitg.  vol.  vili.  p.  25:>;  vol.  ix.  p.  81,  490;  vol.  x.  p.  75.  Miss.  Mag.  vol. 
vi.  p.  79. 

t  Twelve  missionaries  originally  embarked  in  the  Royal  Admiral: 
hut  of  these,  one  was  left  sick  at  Portsmouth;  another  died  at  Port 
Jackson;  a  third  abandoned  the  mission  at  that  place;  and  a  fourth  was 
taken  hack  at  the  request  of  his  brethren,  on  account  of  the  spirit  of 
insubordination  which  he  manifested. — Eva?i.  Mag.  vol.  x.  p.  73,  283, 


by  the  London  Missiondinj  Society.  303 

their  own  habitation."  This  appeared  to  sink  their  value 
not  a  Httle.Hovvever  ,  the  Chief  repUed,  *' Very  well,  if  they 
would  not  fight,  he  would  fight  for  them;  but  yet  he  thought 
it  very  strange  that  king  George,  who  had  so  many  fighting 
men,  should  send  none  to  his  assistance. "'  Before  the  Ro}  al 
Admiral  left  the  island,  the  missionaries,  who  now  amounted 
to  thirteen,  were  organized  into  a  regular  body,  and  regula- 
tions were  settled  for  the  conduct  of  divine  worship,  of  their 
daily  employments,  their  visits  to  the  natives,  and  a  variety 
of  other  circumstances.*! 

•  Kvan.  M:ig.  vol,  x.  283.     Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  233,  241, 

*  Mr.  Broomhall  left  Otalieite  in  the  Royal  Admiral,  and  on  his  ar- 
rival in  China,  remained  in  that  country  in  quest  of  a  situation.  Con- 
cerning this  unhappy  young  man,  we  heard  nothing  for  several  years. 
It  apj)ears,  however,  that  he  remained  in  the  East,  and  went  to  sea, 
though  in  what  capacity  we  do  not  know.  He  continued  for  a  consid- 
erable time  in  a  course  of  hacksliding,  yet  still  he  was  not  without  some 
dc;5ree  of  fear  on  account  of  the  consequences.  Several  very  alarm- 
ing accidents  at  sea,  and  the  breaking  of  his  thigh  at  Madras,  contri- 
buted to  arouse  him  from  this  state  of  insensibility,  and  to  fill  him  for 
a  season,  with  dreadful  apj)reliensions  of  divine  wrath.  He  attempted 
to  pray,  but  started  from  his  knees,  shocked  at  his  own  baseness,  and 
despairing  of  obtaining  mercy  from  that  God  whom  he  had  so  grievously 
offended.  In  fact,  he  considered  himself  as  having  nothing  before 
him  "  l)ut  a  certain  fearful  looking  for  of  judgment  and  of  fiery  indig- 
nation to  devour  him."  Having  afterwards  come  to  Calcutta,  lie  more 
than  once  called  on  the  Baptist  Missionaries  at  Serampoic,  \\ithout, 
however,  revealing  lils  pro])er  name  or  lus  former  character;  and  in  a 
letter  which  he  addressed  to  one  of  them  in  May  1809,  he  draws  the 
following  dicary  picture  of  the  melancholy  state  of  his  mind: 

"  I  have  been  much  engaged  witii  my  vessel  of  late;  hut  the  tsutli  is. 
I  have  not  known  what  to  write.  I  might  say  something  satisfactory, 
perhaps,  of  what  was  foreign  to  my  feelings;  but  sliould  I  attempt  to  des- 
cribe the  state  of  my  mind,  I  fear  you  would  not  be  altogether  ])leased 
with  tlie  picture,  unless  you  can  look  with  pleasure  upon  a  landscape, 
where  the  artist,  in  attempting  to  embellish  the  most  prominent  figures, 
had  daubed  it  with  such  a  collection  of  dark  colours,  that  the  whole 
piece  was  rendered  odious.  Such  would  he  the  description  of  my  feel- 
ings. If  I  should  say  I  feel  daily  aspirations  of  soul  after  God.*  yet  \ 
feel  my  passions  chained  to  the  earth,  and  my  conduct  such  that  it  will 
not  stand  the  test  of  Christianity!  If  prayer  is  at  one  time  a  delight,  at 
others  it  is  an  intolerable  burden;  and  though  dreadfully  convinced  of 
its  necessity,  I  can  neglect  it  for  days,  almost  without  a  sigh!  I  am  con- 
vinced of  the  pleasure  attending  the  study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and 
yet  could  read  almost  any  thing  in  preference.  I  feel  a  pleasure  in  the 
•'vorsliip  oftlie  Most  Hig'i,  and  vet  atn  abashed,  and  even  uncomforta- 


304  Fropagation  of  Christianity 

Though  the  missionaries  had  often  been  alarmed  with  ru- 
mours of  war,  yet  hitherto  no  disturbances  of  a  serious  na- 
ture had  occurred.  But  unhappily  the  tranquillity  of  the 
island  was  at  length  interrupted,  in  consequence  of  a  dispute 
about  Oroo,  which  though  only  a  shapeless  log  of  wood,  the 
Otaheitans  called  their  great  god.*  In  April  1802,  at  a 
numerous  meeting  held  in  Attahoora;  Ottoo  the  king,  after 
having,  in  vain,  demanded  it  from  the  inhabitants  of  that 
district,  who  had  it  in  their  possession,  took  it  from  them  by 
force.  Roused  with  indignation  by  this  insult,  the  Atta- 
hoorans  rose  in  rebellion  against  him,  and  being  joined  by 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  7.  54,  83,  89,  94,  210,  Sec. 

ble  in  the  presence  of  a  Christian!  I  am  perfectly  convinced  of  the  mer- 
cy that  a\v<aits  a  returning  prodigal,  and  jet  I  think  the  glory  of  God  is 
concerned  in  slotting  up  the  avenues  to  it.  In  short,  if  the  law  of  tlie 
Eternal  renders  it  necessary  tliat  '•  the  backslider  shall  be  filled  with  his 
own  ways,"  may  not  his  justice  withhold  those  powerful  operations  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  which  are  abs(dutely  necessary  for  his  return,  while 
he  keeps  his  conscience  sufficiently  awake  to  make  him  miserable?  May 
not  one  in  th.e  situation  now  described,  be  deprived  of  every  comfort, 
stripped  of  every  grace,  and  through  his  folly  in  despising  the  favour 
of  the  Spirit,  be  suffered  to  proceed  to  the  last  hour  of  his  exietence, 
without  enjoying  these  blessings?  This  letter  must  certainly  appear 
strange  to  you;  but  if  you  had  ever  looked  upon  the  Saviour  as  the  ul- 
timatum of  your  desires,  and  had  really  enjoyed  expeiimental  religion 
as  a  consequence,  and  yet  afterwards  had  doubted  of  his  existence — 
endeavoured  to  persuade  yourself  that  the  Bible  was  aforgery— -the  soul 
mortal— and,  consequently,  that  tiiere  was  no  hereafter;  whilst  your 
conduct  corresponded  with  your  sentiments,  you  would  not  be  much 
surprised  at  it," 

Soon  after  he  had  written  this  letter,  Mr.  Broomhall  was  laid  on  a 
-Ick-bed  at  Calcutta,  when,  we  are  told,  God  revealed  his  mercy  to  him, 
softened  his  heart,  removed  those  fears  lie  felt  lest  his  sins  were  un- 
pardonable, and  enabled  liim  to  hope  that  God  would  accept  of  him 
ihrou"-h  the  righteousness  of  Jesus  Christ.  Hitherto,  he  had  said  noth- 
in<^  of  the  situation  he  had  held  in  Otaheite;  but  one  day  he  called  on 
Mr.  Marshman,  after  some  conversation  about  tlie  state  of  his  soul,  he 
e-xclaimed,  "  You  now  beliold  an  apostate  missionary!  I  am  Benjamin 
Broomhall,  who  left  his  brethren  nine  years  ago.  Is  it  possible  you  can 
now  behold  me  without  despising  me?"  Mr.  Marshman's  surprise  at 
this  discovery  it  is  not  easy  to  conceive,  far  less  describe.  It  was  now 
the  wish  of  this  returning  prodigal  to  join  h.is  missionary  Brethren  in 
Otaheite;  but  for  the  present  he  went  on  another  voyage,  and  since  that 
time  we  have  heard  nothing  of  him. — Auth.  Acr.  Evan.  Mag.  vol. 
xviii.  p.  28a. 


by  the  London  M'lss'ionarij  Society.  305 

the  inhabitants  of  several  other  districts,  they  were  at  first 
victorious  in  their  battles  with  the  royalists,  whom  they  trea- 
ted with  the  most  wanton  barbarity.  In  this  exigency,  Po- 
mare  obtained  the  assistance  of  some  British  seamen,  from 
one  or  two  ships  that  were  then  on  the  island;  and  though 
the  rebels  advanced  boldly  to  the  fight,  yet  they  were  quickly 
repulsed  by  the  royalists;  and  no  sooner  did  they  discover 
the  sailors,  than  they  were  overwhelmed  with  consternation, 
and  fled  in  all  directions.  Seventeen  of  the  enemy  were 
killed  on  the  spot,  and  among  others,  one  of  the  ringleaders 
of  the  rebellion.  The  Attahoorans,  however,  were  not  dis- 
couraged, and  still  refused  to  submit;  but,  at  length,  con- 
trary to  all  expectation,  peace  was  concluded,  and  tranquil, 
lity  restored  throughout  the  island.  During  these  commo- 
tions, the  missionaries  were  under  no  small  apprehension 
for  their  personal  safety,  and  made  the  best  arrangements 
they  were  able  for  their  own  defence,  in  case,  they  should 
have  been  attacked  by  the  rebels.  Even  this  subjected  them 
to  no  inconsiderable  loss;  for  they  were  under  the  necessity 
of  destroying  the  inclosures  of  their  gardens,  the  gardens 
themselves,  and  also  their  chapel,  in  order  to  clear  the  ground 
around  them,  and  to  prevent  an  unseen  assault.* 

Hitherto  the  missionaries  had  found  the  acquisition  of  the 
language  attended  with  inexpressibly  greater  difficulties  than 
were  generally  expected.  All  the  vocabularies  they  had  seen 
of  it,  were  essentially  defective  and  erroneous,  not  only  in 
the  fundamental  principles  of  the  grammar,  but  with  regard 
to  the  pronunciation,  orthography,  and  signification  of  the 
words.  It  was  represented  as  uncommonly  easy  of  acquisi- 
sition;  but  they  had  found  the  contrary  by  long  and  sad  ex- 
perience. In  respect  of  some  of  the  common  occurrences 
of  life,  a  person  of  ordinary  capacity  may,  indeed,  soon  make 
himself  understood;  but  to  acquire  such  a  knowledge  of  it, 
as  was  necessary  to  convey  instruction  to  them,  and  espe- 
cially instruction  of  a  religious  nature,  was  a  most  arduous 

*  .Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  64,  110. 

VOL.    17.  Q.  Q 


306  Propagation  of  Christianity 

task.     It  was  described  as  barren  of  words,  but  neither  was 
this  correct.     It  is  destitute,  indeed,  as  might  naturally  be 
supposed,  of  all  such  terms  as  are  common  among  civilized 
nations,  relative  to  the  arts  and  sciences,  manufactories,  com- 
merce, &c  ;  but  with  regard  to  those  objects,  with  which  an 
Otaheitan  is  conversant,   it  is  exceedingly  copious.     The 
simple  roots,  it  is  true,  are  only  a  few  hundred  in  number; 
but  these,  few  as  they  are,  may,   by  the  help  of  affixes  and 
prefixes,  be  easily  multiplied  to  five  or  six  thousand,  so  as 
to  express  ideas  with  the  utmost  precision.     In  a  vocabu- 
lary which  the  missionaries  drew  up  with  great  care,   there 
were  two  thousand  one  hundred  words,  exclusive  of  five 
hundred  names  of  trees,  plants,  fishes,  &c.  and  several  hun- 
dred more  expressive  of  the  qualities  and  states  of  bread- 
fruit, plantains,  cocoa  nuts,  &c.     The  Otaheitan  language 
abounds  with  vowels,  even  in  a  greater  degree  than  any  nav- 
igator who  had  given  specimens  of  it,  ever  imagined.  Many 
words  consist  entirely  of  vowels,  each  of  which  has  a  distinct 
enunciation:  but  the  rapidity  with  which  the  natives  uttered 
them,  rendered  it  extremely  difficult  to  catch  the  precise 
sound.     As  a  natural  consequence  of  this  structure  of  their 
words,  vast  numbers  of  them  have  nearly  the  same  pronun- 
ciation, though  widely   different  in  sense;   a  circumstance 
which  proves  a  source  of  no  small  embarrassment  to  a  learn- 
er.    Besides,  the  Otaheitans  make  frequent  use  of  abbrevi- 
ations, by  which  means  the  words  were  often  so  shortened, 
that  the  missionaries  were  extremely  puzzled,  and  mistook 
them  for  new  terms.     The  people  too  often  adopted  their 
erroneous  pronunciation,  as  persons  in  every  country  are 
apt  to   do  to  children,  and  thus  instead  of  correcting,  con- 
firmed them  in  their  mistake.     From  these,  and  a  variety  of 
other  circumstances,  the  progress  of  the  missionaries  in  ac- 
quiring the  language  was  extremely  slow,  and  it  was  often  no 
small  task  to  unlearn  what  with  great  difficulty  they  had  al- 
ready learned.* 

»  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  117,  135;  vol.  iii,  p.  179. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  307 

Ever  since  their  arrival  on  the  island,  the  missionaries  had 
endeavoured,  by  conversation  and  other  easy  means,  to  dis- 
seminate, among  the  natives,  some  knowledge  of  Christian- 
ity; but  now  the  time  arrived,  when  they  were  able  to  pro- 
claim to  them,  "  in  their  own  tongue,  the  wonderful  works 
of  God-"  Just  before  the  outbreaking  of  the  rebellion,  two 
of  them  made  a  circuit  through  the  island,  and  preached  the 
gospel  in  every  district  except  Attahoora.  The  natives  as- 
sembled to  hear  them,  in  companies  of  from  twenty,  to  a  hun- 
dred and  sixty;  and  numbers  of  them  listened  with  consid- 
erable attention,  though  others  appeared  extremely  careless, 
and  acted  in  a  very  disorderly  manner.*  After  the  sup- 
pression of  the  rebellion,  the  missionaries  proceeded  in  their 
labours  of  love,  and  even  extended  them  to  the  neighbour- 
ing island  of  Eimeo.f  In  some  places  the  natives  seemed 
pleased  with  what  they  heard,  and  said  it  was  "  good  talk," 
but  in  other  instances,  they  treated  it  with  indifference  and 
contempt,  and  appeared  perfectly  hardened  in  their  evil  ways. 
It  was  next  to  impossible  to  convince  them  of  the  value  of 
their  souls,  or  even  to  make  them  understand  its  particular 
nature,  for  most  of  them  seemed  to  consider  it  as  something 
without  them,  that  resided  in  the  other  world,  and  visited  them 
only  at  certain  seasons,  as  in  dreaming,  &c4  One  evil  very 
prevalent  among  them  was  the  taking  of  the  names  of  Je- 
hovah and  Jesus  Christ  in  vain,  though  they  were  cautioned 
against  it  inalmost  every  discourse,  "y  One  day,  Mr.  Jefferson 
heard  some  of  them  speaking  in  a  familiar  manner  of  Jesus 
Christ;  but  they  asserted  he  was  a  God  of  no  power,  and 
that  their  idol  Oroo  was  the  mighty  god.  They,  at  the  same 
time,  affirmed,  that  the  God  of  England  was  not  good,  in 
proof  of  which  they  alleged,  the  disorders  introduced  among 
them  by  our  sailors,  and  the  shipwreck  of  the  Norfolk,  a  ves- 
sel which  liad  been  lately  lost  upon  the  island.  One  man 
in  particular,  of  a  most  savage  aspect,  pointed  at  a  deformed 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  57-         f  Ibid.   vol.  ii.  p.  123,  133. 

*  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  126,  §  Ibid.  vol.  ii,  p.  327, 


308  Propagation  of  Christianity 

person  present,  and  protested  that  such  things  could  not  be 
the  work  of  their  own  god  Oroo,  but  of  the  evil  god  of  Eng- 
land.* Indeed,  they  seldom  failed  wantonly  to  call  on  the 
missionaries  to  look  on  those  who  had  broken  backs,  the 
ague,  the  flux,  the  venereal  disease,  &c.  all  of  which,  they 
alleged,  came  from  England.  In  short,  they  attribute  to  us 
all  their  evils,  and  say  that  there  are  very  few  men  left;  noth- 
ing but  stones  remain,  to  use  their  own  emphatic  phraseol- 
ogy-tt  The  bodily  diseases  under  which  many  of  them 
groaned,  instead  of  disposing  them  to  embrace  the  gospel, 
irritated  them  agtilnst  it;  and,  as  if  the  missionaries  had  only 
been  mocking  them,  they  replied,  "  You  tell  us  of  salvation, 
and  behold  we  are  dying;"  and  when  they  were  told  it  was 
the  salvation  of  their  souls  from  the  wrath  of  God,  not  of 
their  bodies  from  disease,  in  the  present  life,  they  answered, 
*'  We  want  no  other  salvation,  but  to  live  in  this  world.  "»\ 
Often,  too,  when  the  missionaries  exhorted  them   to  turn 

•  r-T'SS.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  121.  \  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  327. 

§  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  286. 

I  It  is  satisfactory  to  learn  from  the  missionaries,  that  there  is  no  good 
reason  for  thinking  that  al",  or  even  the  most,  of  these  diseases  were 
introduced  into  Otaheite  by  ships  from  England;  and  they  suppose  that 
the  Otaheitans  themselves  did  not  believe  it,  though  they  often  brought 
forward  the  charge.  Captain  Cook,  they  said  brought  the  intermittent 
fever,  the  crooked  backs,  and  the  scrofula,  which  broke  out  in  their 
necks,  breasts,  groins,  and  arm-pits;  Vancouver  the  bloody-tlu.x,  which 
in  a  few  months  carried  oft" great  numbers  of  tiiem,  and  then  abated:  and 
some  alleged  it  was  Bligh  who  brought  the  scrofula  among  them.  The 
missionaries,  however,  assert,  that  they  got  no  disease  from  England 
except  the  venereal  disorder;  and  for  that  they  have  to  blame  their  own 
■women,  as  well  as  our  sailors.  As  it  is  said  neither  Cook  nor  Vancou- 
ver had  a  sick  person  on  board;  the  flux  and  fever,  if  this  statement  be 
correct,  could  not  be  introduced  by  them,  nor  did  the  missionaries  know 
of  any  ship  which  had  either  of  these  diseases  on  board  when  at  Ota- 
heite; and  as  the  intermittent  fever,  which  is  the  most  common  and 
most  fatal  of  their  disorders,  is  not  an  infectious  disease,  but  arises  from 
the  effluvia  of  marshes;  it  could  not  have  been  communicated  by  con- 
tagion from  any  of  our  sailors,  even  if  they  had  been  labouring  under 
it.  Witli  regard  to  the  crooked  backs,  the  Otaheitans  themselves  allow 
that  they  are  the  effect  of  the  Hotatte,  a  disease  very  prevalent  on  the 
island,  and  which  could  not  come  from  England,  as  it  does  not  prevail 
in  this  country. — Miss.   Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  120,  349. 


hy  the  London  Missionary  Society.  309 

Irom  their  vanities,  and  to  worship  the  true  God,  thty  asked, 
Whether  any  of  the  chiefs  had  believed,  and  turned  to  Je- 
hovah? They  frequently  mentioned  Pomare's  killing  men 
for  sacrifices  to  their  idols,  and  told  them  to  go  and  preach 
to  him  and  the  king.*  Besides,  they  said,  that  if  they  em- 
braced the  Christian  religion,  their  own  gods  would  kill 
thcm.f  Many  of  them,  indeed,  obtained  considerable  know- 
ledge of  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel;  but  their  hearts  remain- 
ed unsanctificd,  and  their  conduct  unreformed.  They  were 
wonderfully  bigotted  to  their  own  superstition  and  idolatry; 
and  though  they  sometimes  acknowledged  that  they  were 
fools  and  knew  nothing,  yet  they  quickly  had  recourse  to 
their  vain  delusions,  and  by  means  of  these  refuges  of  lies, 
smothered  the  convictions  of  their  consciences.  J  Hence, 
it  often  happened,  that  when,  at  one  time,  the  missionaries 
met  with  any  encouragement  among  them,  the  very  next 
time  they  visited  them  they  were  more  discouraged  than 
cver.y^ 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  o2T.  f  Ibid.  vol.  ii,  p.  338. 

if  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  2b7.  §  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  303. 

1  111  September  1802,  the  ship  Marsha  ret,  on  board  of  which  a  Mr. 
Turnbull  was  surgeon,  arrived  at  Otaheite,  and  as  he  resided  for  seve- 
ral months  on  the  island,  l>c  had  ample  opportunities  of  observing  the 
character  and  conduct  of  t!\e  missionaries.  On  his  return  to  England, 
he  published  an  account  of  his  voyage  in  three  small  volumes;  and  we 
think  it  no  more  than  a  piece  of  justice  to  these  good  men,  to  make  a 
few  extracts  from  tliat  work,  in  tcstimon^^  of  their  diligence  and  zeal 
in  prosecuting  the  great  object  of  their  mission. 

"  We  cannot  omit  in  this  place."  says  Mr,  Turnbull,  to  do  justice  to 
the  amiable  manners,  and  truly  Christian  deportment  of  these  men,  who, 
like  the  apostles  of  old,  foregoing  all  the  comlorts  of  ci%ilized  life,  and 
a  life  at  least  of  tranquillity  in  their  native  land,  have  performed  a  voy- 
age etjual  to  the  circumnavigation  of  the  globe,  and,  like  the  dove  of 
the  ark,  carried  the  Christian  olive  over  tlie  world  of  waters.  Their 
life  is  a  life  of  contest,  hardship,  and  disappointment:  Like  their  holy 
Master,  they  have  to  preach  to  the  deaf,  and  exhibit  their  works  to  the 
blind." — TurjihuWfi  Voyage  round  the  World  in  the  years  1801,  1802. 
1803,  1804,  vol.  i.  p.  165. 

"  It  may  be  satisfactory  to  the  friends  of  the  missionaries  to  learn, 
that  their  prajer  meetings  and  public  ordinances,  were  constantly 
kept  up,  the  morning  and  afternoon  of  eveij  da}",  and  on  Sundays 
three  times  a  day.    The  natives,  however,  did  not  attend.     The  breth- 


310  Propagation  of  Christianity 

In  September  1803,  Pomare,  the  father  of  the  khig,  died 
very  suddenly.  One  day  after  dinner,  he  and  two  of  his 
men  got  into  a  single  canoe,  and  paddled  towards  the  brig 
Dart,  a  vessel  from  London,  which  was  then  lying  off  the 
island.  When  they  had  almost  reached  her,  the  chief  sud- 
denly felt  a  pain  in  his  back,  which  caused  him  to  raise  him- 
self with  a  jerk,  and  put  his  hand  to  the  place  that  was  affec- 
ted; but  no  sooner  had  he  done  this,  than  he  fell  with  his 

len  took  it  by  turns  to  visit  all  the  parts  of  the  island  within  their 
reach  that  day.  The  preaching,  or  rather  the  example,  of  the  mission- 
aries, is  not,  liowever,  wholly  without  effect.  The  Sabbath  is  called  by 
the  natives  the  day  of  God;  and  however  little  attention  they,  in  every 
other  respect,  pay  to  religion,  their  conduct  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
bourhood of  Matavai,  on  this  day,  is  more  sedate  and  orderly  than  on 
any  other.  The  missionaries  have,  doubtless,  gained  a  small  victory 
over  them  in  this  point,  as  likewise  in  another  of  still  greater  conse- 
quence. The  greater  part  of  their  former  obscenity  in  their  public 
dances  has  disappeared,  and  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Matavai,  the  Sunday 
has  something  of  the  semblance  of  a  Christian  Sabbath." — lb.  vol.  iii. 
p.  5,  6. 

"  The  missionaries,  indeed,  neglect  nothing  to  render  their  mission 
successful.  On  every  Sabbath  day,  they  range  the  country,  two  by 
two,  in  different  directions.  But  I  repeat,  that  I  fear  their  efforts  will 
for  a  long  time  be  unsuccessful.  They  consider  the  missionaries  as 
very  good  men,  and  love  and  esteem  them  accordingly;  but  they  do  not 
comprehend,  therefore  do  not  believe  the  articles  of  their  religi- 
on."— lb.  vol.  iii.  p.  8. 

"  The  missionaries  had  made  the  circuit  of  the  island  twice  during 
the  time  we  were  amongst  them,  preacliing  from  district  to  district,  and 
seconding  their  exhortations  by  presents.  If  zeal  in  the  discharge  of 
their  duty  could  insure  success;  the  missionaries  would  not  preach  in 
vain." — lb.  vol.  iii.  p.  15. 

"  They  apparently  lived  together  in  tlie  greatest  love  and  harmony, 
and  all  of  them  present  an  example  of  industry.  Their  situation,  how- 
ever, is  by  no  means  so  comfortable,  as  many  of  our  countrymen  may 
be  inclined  to  imagine;  for  as  their  stock  of  European  articles  decrea- 
ses, they  must  proportionally  lose  their  influence  over  the  natives." — 
lb.  vol.  iii.  p.  18. 

"  The  natives  respect  the  missionaries,  and  in  some  points  of  view 
regard  them  with  astonishment.  Their  comparative  purity  of  manners, 
their  indifference  to  their  women,  and  their  peaceable  upright  deport- 
ment, are  subjects  of  their  wonder;  and  as  their  minds  unfold  to  the 
knowledge  of  morals,  they  will  continue  to  increase  in  their  esteem 
and  love  for  these  men." — lb.  vol.  iii.  p.  21.  Such  is  the  honourable  tes- 
timony which  Mr.  Turnbull  bears  to  the  character  and  conduct  of  the 
missionaries  in  Otaheite.  The  facts  he  states,  we  believe,  are  correct, 
though  we  cannot  subscribe  to  all  the  opinions  he  expresses. 


hy  the  London  Missionary  Society.  311 

face  to  the  bottom  of  the  canoe,  and  never  spoke  more.* 
As  Pomare  was  a  warm  and  steadfast  friend  of  the  mission- 
aries, especially  at  first,  it  may  not  be  improper  to  give  a 
short  sketch  of  his  history  and  character. 

Pomare  was  born  in  Opare,  and  by  birth  was  the  chief  of 
that  district  only;  but  by  his  own  superior  talents,  together 
with  the  assistance  of  the  deserters  from  the  various  ships 
which  visited  Otaheite,  particularly  the  crew  of  the  Bounty, 
he  raised  himself  to  a  kind  of  sovereignty  over  the   whole 
island.     With  regard  to  his  personal  qualities,  he  was  a  sa- 
vage of  unusual  grace  and  dignity;  tall,  stout,  well  propor- 
tioned.    There  was  something  in  his  appearance  which  in- 
dicated him  to  be  no  ordinary  man;  grave  in  his  countenance, 
majestic  in  his  deportment,  engaging  in  his  manners;   but 
under  the  appearance  of  candour,  he  concealed  no  small  de- 
gree of  hypocrisy.     In  prosperity,  he  was  insufferably  proud 
toward  his  enemies;   in  adversity,  he  was  no   less  dejected 
in  his  own  mind.f     As  a  governor  he  was  extremely  op- 
pressive; but  yet  it  was  generally  allowed  that  the  island  had 
enjoyed  a  far  greater  degree  of  tranquillity  during  his  reign, 
than  while  the  several  districts  were  independent  of  each 
other.     Perhaps,  however,  the  most  remarkable  trait  in  his 
character  was  a  species  of  prudence  and  foresight,  rarely 
found  among  savages;  a  mind  which  was  capable  of  forming 
certain  plans,  and  of  adhering  to  them,  with  a  view  to  the  dis- 
tant advantages  which  would  result  from  them.     Erecting 
houses,  building  canoes,  and  cultivating  the  ground,  were 
favourite  employments  with  him;  and  the  works  of  this  des- 
cription which  he  accomplished,  place  his  talents  and  power 
in  a  very  extraordinary  light.     His  conduct  to  such  Euro- 
peans as  visited  the  island,  and  the  countenance  he  gave  the 
missionaries  in  particular,  were  the  effects  of  this  political 
foresight.     Resisting,  in  the  first  instance,  that  natural  im- 
pulse which  would  have  tempted  a  savage  to  plunder  them 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  147,292. 

I  Miss.  Truus.  vol.  ii.  \i.  295.  Tunibiili's  Voyage  round  tlie  World,  vol.  ii.  p.  236. 


312  Propagation  of  Christianity       " 

without  delay,  he  encouraged  them  to  settle  on  the  island, 
in  the  hope  that  he  himself  and  his  country  would  ultimate- 
ly reap  greater  and  more  permanent  advantages  from  them. 
But  though  Pomare  was  the  friend  of  the  missionaries, 
he  was  at  the  same  time  the  very  soul  of  the  superstition  of 
his  own  country.  Many  were  the  marais  and  altars  reared 
at  his  command  all  over  the  island;  and  besides  innumerable 
costly  gifts  of  canoes,  clothes,  &c.  he  was  perpetually  offer- 
ing up  human  sacrifices  to  propitiate  the  wrath  of  his  idols* 
Mr,  Elder,  one  of  the  missionaries,  supposes,  that  the  per- 
sons he  had  murdered  for  this  purpose  might  not  be  fewer 
than  two  thousand. f  On  the  whole,  as  the  Otaheitans  con- 
ceived Pomare  to  have  been  the  greatest  chief  they  ever  had, 
so  he  certainly  did  not  leave  his  equal  on  the  island.^ 

Besides  preaching  the  gospel  throughout  the  island,  the 
missionaries,  especially  Mr.  Davies,  now  began  to  pay  par- 
ticular attention  to  the  instruction  of  the  children,  in  the 
hope  that  some  serious  impression  might  be  made  on  their 
young  and  tender  minds.  The  number  who  in  various 
places  submitted  to  be  catechised  was,  on  the  whole,  con- 
siderable, and  the  progress  vrhich  they  made  was  as  great  as 
could  reasonably  be  expected.  This  exercise,  however, 
tliough  highly  important,  was  attended  with  many  difficulties, 
some  of  which  it  may  not  be  improper  to  mention. 

First,  There  was  no  way  of  collecting  any  number  of  chil- 
dren together.  It  was  necessary  to  go  to  the  several  places, 
or  houses  where  they  were;  to  take  one  here,  another  there, 
and  two  perhaps  in  a  third  place.  They  often  refused  to  go 
even  twenty  or  thirty  yards  to  meet  with  others,  a  circum- 
stance which  consumed  much  time,  and  materially  dimin* 
ished  the  utility  of  the  exercise.  § 

Secondly,  To  find  convenient  time  was  no  easy  matter. 
After  the  novelty  of  the  catechising  was  over,  every  little 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  295.     TurnbuU's  Voyage,  vol.  ii.  p.  236. 

I  Religious  Monitor,  vol.  ii.  p.  313. 

\  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  297.  §  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  306,  315. 


hij  the  London  Missionary  Society.  313 

cnga,8jcmcnt  was  deemed  an  apo-.ogy  for  neglecting  it.  Some- 
times all  were  fishing,  or  they  were  in  the  mountains  seek- 
ing plantains;  at  other  times  they  were  gathering  breadfruit, 
or  preparing  their  ovens,  or  else  there  was  some  diversion 
going  on  in  the  neighbourhood.  To  try  to  teach  them  at 
such  seasons  was  a  fruitless  attempt.* 

Thirdly,  To  obtain  a  suitable  place  was  extremely  difficult. 
It  was  very  rare  to  find  the  children  alone,  some  of  the  old 
people  being  usually  at  hand.  This  would  have  been  an  ad- 
vantage, if  they  would  have  listened  with  attention;  but  in- 
stead of  this,  they  commonly  kept  up  an  incessant  chattering 
among  themselves,  or  with  the  children,  so  that  often  nothing 
could  be  done  for  noise  and  clamour.  At  other  times,  they 
would  sit  close  to  the  children,  and  whisper  in  their  ears  the 
most  nonsensical  and  ridiculous  answers,  with  the  view  of 
affording  diversion  to  the  company.  Such  of  the  children 
as  were  come  any  length,  they  endeavoured  to  put  to  shame, 
by  mocking  and  laughing  at  them.  Besides,  they  frequent- 
ly contradicted  whatever  was  said,  and  spoke  of  Jehovah  and 
of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  most  contemptuous  raanner.f 

Fourthly,  The  wandering  disposition  of  the  young,  as 
well  as  of  the  old,  was  no  small  bar  to  their  improvement. 
In  Otaheitc,  every  child  able  to  climb  an  ooroo  or  a  cocoa 
ti-ec,  is  independent  of  its  parents,  and  wanders  wherever  it 
j;!eases,  without  regard  to  them  or  any  of  its  friends.  HencC; 
ihey  rarely  remained  long  enough  in  one  place,  to  learn  any 
thing  to  purpose;  tl'.e  same  children  could  seldom  be  cate- 
chised twice  successively;  and  as  they  were  often  absent  for 
a  fortnight  or  three  weeks  together,  they  usually  forgot  much 
of  what  they  had  learned  by  the  time  they  returned.  J 

Lastly,  Both  the  old  people  and  the  young  had  an  idea 
that  the  missionaries  were  their  debtors,  and  ought  to  pay 
them  for  sul)initting  to  instruction.  Instigated  b}-  their  pa- 
rents, the  children  used  often  to  say  to  their  teachers,  "  You 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol,  ii.  p.  306.  f  Ibid.  vol.  i'l.  p.  306,  315. 

t  11>1(1.  vol.  ii.  p.  307,  315. 
VOL.  II.  2  R 


ol4  Propagaiion  of  Christianity 

come  here  frequently,  but  vrhat  do  you  bring  us?  Give  us 
pins,  beads,  and  fish-books,  or  else  we  will  not  be  taught." 
Being  disappointed  of  presents,  (for  the  missionaries  had 
none  to  give,)  they  became  more  shy,  and  some,  when  they 
yaw  their  teachers  coming,  would  run  away  and  conceal 
themselves  till  they  were  past.* 

But  notwithstanding  these  various  obstacles,  Mr.  Davies 
and  others  of  the  missionaries  persevered  in  their  catecheti- 
cal labours  among  the  children;  and  could  their  young  pu- 
pils have  been  instructed  m^ore  frequently,  and  by  them- 
selves, there  is  no  doubt  they  would,  in  a  short  time,  have 
made  considerable  progress  in  Christian  knowledge.  Many 
qf  them,  even  as  it  was,  learned  the  whole  of  the  catechism, 
which  the  missionaries  had  written  in  the  Otaheitan  lan- 
guage; and  numbers  of  them  continued  to  retain  what  they 
had  been  taught,  after  they  had  been  absent  for  several 
months,  t 

Besides  catechising  the  children  throughout  the  island, 
Mr.  Davies  opened  a  school  for  teaching  the  boys  and  young 
men  to  read,  who  attended  the  missionaries  as  servants,  and 
resided  near  their  habitation.  The  attempt  succeeded  much 
better  than  v/as  expected.  The  youths,  in  general,  seemed 
very  desirous  to  learn,  and  even  asked  Mr.  Davies  to  meet 
with  them  more  frequently,  a  request  with  which  he  was 
happy  to  comply.  Encouraged  by  these  agreeable  circum- 
stances, he  composed  a  short  spelling-book  in  the  Otaheitan 
language  for  the  instruction  of  youth;  and  a  copy  of  it,  to- 
gether with  the  catechism,  &.c.  having  been  serit  to  the  Mis- 
sionary Society,  they  were  both  printed  in  London.^  Be- 
sides this  little  work,  the  missionaries  transmitted  to  the  di- 
rectors the  vocabulary  which  they  had  drawn  up  of  the  lan- 
guage, together  with  an  essay  towards  an  Otaheitan  Eng- 
lish grammar.^     They  also  agreed  to  write  some  Forms  of 

*  Miss.  Trr.us.  vol.  11.  p.  207,  315.  f  Ibid.  vol.  11.  p.  521. 

i  Ibia.  vol.  iU.  p.  190,  278,  282.     §  Report  of  the  Missionary  Society,  1808,  p.  10. 


by  the  London  Mhslonary  Sodeti/.  315 

Prayer,  a  Sketch  of  Scripture  History,  and  some  other  small 
pieces  for  the  use  of  the  natives.* 

Not  long  after  the  missionaries  settled  in  Otaheite,  Otoo, 
the  king-,  begged  one  of  them  to  teach  him  the  Hebrew 
language,  and  asked,  at  the  same  time,  Whether  the  king  of 
England  was  acquainted  \vith  it?  What  had  excited  in  his 
mind  this  strange  desire,  it  is  not  easy  to  conjecture,  unless, 
perhaps,  the  singular  appearance  of  the  Hebrew  characters 
had  caught  his  fancy. t  He  now  however,  made  an  ac- 
quisition, which  to  him  was  of  a  most  useful  and  substan- 
tial nature,  having  learned  from  the  missionaries  to  read  and 
write  his  own  language.  Of  this  we  have  an  interesting 
specimen,  in  a  letter  which  he  addressed  ia  January  1807, 
to  the  Missionary  Society,  in  reply  to  an  epistle  which 
they  had  written  to  him:  It  was  composed  entirely  by  him- 
self in  the  Otaheitan  language,  was  then  translated  by  the 
missionaries  into  English,  and  of  this  the  king  wrote  the  fol- 
lowing copy: 

Mafavai,  Otaheite,  January  \st,  1807. 
Friends, 

I  wish  you  every  blessing,  friends,  in  your  residence  in 
your  country,  with  success  in  teaching  this  bad  land,  this 
foolish  land,  this  wicked  land;  this  land  which  is  ignorant  of 
good,  this  land  that  knoweth  not  the  true  God,  this  regard- 
less land. 

Friends,  I  wish  you  health  and  prosperity:  May  I  also 
live,  and  may  Jehovah  save  us  all. 

Friends,  with  respect  to  your  letter  you  wrote  to  me,  I 
have  this  to  say  to  you,  that  your  business  with  me  and  your 
wishes,  I  fully  consent  to,  and  shall  consequently  banish 
Oroo,  and  send  him  to  Raeatea. 

Friends,  I  do  therefore  believe  and  shall  obey  your 
word. 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  iii.  p.  190  Ibid,  vol    i.  p.  51 


316  Fropagatwn  of  Christianity 

Friends,  I  hope  you  also  will  consent  to  my  request, 
which  is  this:  1  wish  you  to  send  a  great  number  of  men, 
women,  and  children  here. 

Friends,  send  also  property  and  cloth  for  us,  and  we  also 
will  adopt  English  customs.* 

Friends,  send  also  plenty  of  muskets  and  powder,  for  wars 
are  frequent  in  our  country.  Should  I  !)e  killed,  you  Avill 
have  nothing  in  Tahetc:  Do  not  come  here  when  I  am 
dead.  Tahete  is  a  regardless  country;  and  should  I  die 
with  sickness,  do  not  come  here.  This  also  I  wish,  that 
you  would  send  me  all  the  curious  things  that  you  have  in 
England.  Also  send  me  every  thing  necessary  for  writing; 
paper,  ink,  and  pens,  in  abundance;  Let  no  vv^riting  utensil 
be  wanting. 

Friends,  I  have  done,  and  have  nothing  at  all  more  to  ask 
you  for.  As  for  your  desire  to  instruct  Tahete,  'tis  what  I 
fully  acquiesce  in.  'Tis  a  common  thing  for  people  not  to 
understand  at  first;  but  your  object  is  good,  and  I  fully  con- 
sent to  it,  and  shall  cast  off  all  evil  customs. 

What  I  say  is  truth,  and  no  lie;  it  is  the  real  truth. 

This  is  all  I  have  to  write;  I  have  done. 


*  The  Otaheitans  now  carried  the  affectation  of  English  dress  so  far, 
that  they  would  give  almost  any  price  for  an  old  black  or  blue  coat  and 
a  shirt.  No  man  thought  he  could  go  before  the  king  on  public  occa- 
sions with  any  appearance  of  consequence,  unless  he  liad  a  musket,  a 
coat,  and  a  shirt;  or,  at  least,  a  coat  to  accompany  his  musket.  Some 
of  them,  it  may  easily  be  supposed,  would  make  very  grotesque  figures. 
Their  regard  to  England  was  manifested  by  other  circumstances.  Among 
other  ceremonies  which  took  place  on  the  king's  return  from  Einieo, 
where  he  had  been  for  sosne  time;  was  the  sending  of  a  piece  of  cloth 
and  a  small  hog  to  the  missionai'ies  as  a  j)resent  for  king  George.  On 
all  public  occasions,  the  names  of  the  principal  chiefs  are  called  over, 
and  sometliing  given  for  each  of  them:  if  they  are  not  there  themselves, 
some  person  answers  in  their  nauie,  and  receives  the  present.  Ever 
since  the  time  of  captain  Cook,  his  Britannic  majesty  has  had  the  hon- 
our of  having  his  name  added  to  the  list;  and  when  it  is  called,  if  any 
Englishman  be  there,  he  answers  and  receives  the  present;  if  there  are 
none,  it  is  given  to  the  natives.     Miss.  Trans,  vol.  iii.  p.  170,  17^. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  317 

Friends,  write  to  me  that  I  may  know  what  you  have  to 
say. 

I  wish  you  life  and  every  blessing. 
May  I  also  live,  and  may  Jehovah  save  us  all. 

Pom  A  RE,  king  of  Tahete,  &c.*^ 

For  my  Friends, 
the  Missionary  Society,  London. 

But  though  the  king  shewed  the  missionaries  the  utmost 
respect  and  friendship,  at  least  since  his  father's  death,  and 
learned  from  them  to  read  and  write,  he  manifested  no  dis- 
position to  embrace  the  gospel.  He  was  even  averse  to  re- 
ligious instruction;  and  whenever  the  subject  was  introduc- 
ed, endeavoured  artfully  to  evade  it.f 

Of  late  years,  great  quantities  of  muskets  and  gun-powder 
liad  been  introduced  into  Otaheite  by  the  various  ships 
which  visited  the  island:  they  were,  in  fact,  the  principal  ar- 
ticles which  they  bartered  with  the  natives.  The  mission- 
aries had  long  expected  that  this  would  at  length  give  rise  to 
a  civil  war,  especially  as  the  king  was  resolved  to  have  all 
the  muskets  into  his  own  hands,  and  the  people  were  no  less 
determined  to  retain  them:  a  considerable  party  was  already 
formed  against  him,  and  matters  appeared  for  several  years 
to  be  drawing  to  some  great  crisis. |  The  storm,  however, 
had  been  averted  so  long,  that  the  missionaries  had  almost 
begun  to  flatter  themselves  Avith  the  continuance  of  peace; 
when,  in  October  1808,  they  received  a  letter  from  the  king, 
inforiuing  them,  that  it  was  likely  the  island  would  soon  be 
involved  in  war,  and  warning  them  to  be  on  their  guard. "^ 

On  receiving  this  intelligence,  the  missionaries  wrote  the 
king,  earnestly  exhorting  him  to  peace,  and  expressing  ap- 

*  Ariss   TiMUs.  vol.  ili.  p.  17J.  |  Ibid.  v.il.  iii.  p.  37,  188. 

4  Ibid.  vuU  iii.  p.  30.  §  Ibid.%-ol.  iii.  p.  332. 

^  A  fac-siniile  of  this  letter  may  he  found  in  volunip  (hii-d  of  the  Mis 
sionary  Transactions.  The  characters  are  well  formed,  and  the  whole 
is  written  with  considerable  neatness  an\i  ease. 


318  Propagation  of  Christianity 

prehensions  for  their  own  safety  if  war  should  ensue.  From 
this  period,  however,  the  alarm  became  general;  the  rebel 
party  daily  increased  in  numbers  and  in  strength;   and  it 
seemed   as   if  hostilities    would   immediately   commence. 
Meanwhile,  the  brig  Perseverance,  from  Port  Jackson,  an- 
chored in  Matavai  bay;  and  Pomare,  notwithstanding  his 
strong  attachment  to  the  missionaries,  advised  them,  espe- 
cially the  married  brethren,  to  consult  their  own  safety,  by 
embracing  this  opportunity  of  leaving  die  island.     At  one 
time,  indeed,  he  himself  intended  to  quit  Otaheite,  and  ac- 
tually obtained  a  passage  in  this  vessel  to  Huaheine,  an  island 
about  sixteen  leagues  distant;  but  afterwards  he  changed  his 
mind,  apprehending  he  would  by  this  means  lose  all  his  au- 
thority at  home:    "  Perhaps,  however,"  said  he,   "  the  peo- 
ple may  ere  long  cut  off  my  head,  as  the  people  of  France 
treated  their  king;"  for  it  seems   this  tragical  event  is   not 
unknown  even  in  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.     Agree- 
ably to  the  advice  of  the  king,  the  missionaries  came  to  a 
resolution  to  leave  the  island;  but  on  learning  that  he  had 
determined  to  stay,  it  was  agreed  that  some  of  the  unmarried 
brethren  should  remain  with  him;  a  circumstance  which  ap- 
peared to  afford  him  great  satisfaction.     Messrs.  Hayward, 
Nott,  Wilson,  and  Scott,  accordingly  stopped  with  Pomare, 
while  the  other  missionaries  sailed  in  the  ship  Perseverencc 
to  Huaheine,  Vv^here  they  arrived  the  very  next  day.* 

For  some  weeks  after  the  departure  of  the  missionaries, 
there  was  a  cessation  of  hostilities  between  Pomare  and  the 
rebels;  but  the  king,  infatuated  by  one  of  his  false  prophets, 
ventured  at  length  to  attack  them;  and  as  they  had  the  ad- 
vantage not  only  in  respect  of  numbers,  but  of  ground,  his 
party  was  repulsed,  some  of  his  principal  warriors  slain,  and 
numbers  of  muskets  taken  by  the  enemy.  Encouraged  by 
this  success,  the  rebels  now  overran  the  country,  and  com- 
mitted terrible  devastations.  The  houses  of  the  missiona- 
ries were  burnt;  their  gardens  laid  waste;  their  plantations 

•  IVfiss.  TiVins.  vol.  iii.  p.  2?>Z- 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  319 

demolished;  their  cattle  seized;  and  the  rest  of  their  property 
plundered.  On  receiving  intelligence  of  Pomare's  defeat, 
the  missionaries  who  still  remained  on  the  island  sailed  to 
Eimeo:  the  king  himself  followed  them  in  about  three  weeks; 
and,  after  some  time,  all  of  them,  excepting  Mr.  Nott,  who 
retired  to  Huaheine.  Pomare  afterwards  returned  to  Ota- 
heite  and  engaged  the  rebels;  but  was  again  defeated  with 
the  loss  of  twenty-four  of  his  warriors,  so  that  he  was  now 
obhged  to  act  only  on  the  defensive,  until  he  should  re- 
ceive some  reinforcements  which  he  expected.* 

Considering  these  various  circumstances;  the  war  in  Ota- 
heite;  the  destruction  of  their  houses;  the  loss  of  their  pro- 
perty; the  improbability  of  Pomare's  restoration;  the  terrible 
slaughter  which  was  likely  to  take  place  before  the  establish- 
ment of  peace  and  tranquillity,  even  though  he  should  even- 
tually be  restored,  the  missionaries  came  to  a  resolution  to 
embrace  the  first  opportunity  of  leaving  Huaheine,  and  to 
return  to  the  colony  of  New  South  Wales.     When,  there- 
fore, the  brig  Hibernia  touched  at  that  island,  together  with 
the  Venus  schooner,  they  agreed  with  the  captain  to  convey 
them  to  Port  Jackson.     Having  all  embarked  on  board  the 
Hibernia,  (with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Hay  ward,  who  was  re- 
solved to  remain  at  Huaheine,  where  he  was  shortly  after 
joined  by  Mr.  Nott,)  they  sailed  from  that  island  in  October 
1809,  and  after  a  tedious  and  dangerous  passage,  in  the  course 
of  which  they  were  nearly  shipwrecked  among   the  Feegce 
islands,  they  arrived  at  New  South  Wales  in  February  1810. 
Here  they  met  with  a  kind  reception,  both  from  his  excel- 
lency governor  Macquarrie,  and  from  the  Pev.  Mr.  Marsden, 
who  soon  after  returned  from  England  to  the  colony.     By 
their  exertions,  the  missionaries  had  their  wants  for  tiie  pre- 
sent supplied,  and  were  provided  with  the  means  of  support- 
ing themselves  in  useful  and  respectable  situations-t 

The   missionaries,   however,  had  not  been  long  in  New- 
South  Wales,  when  several  of  ihcm  were  desirous  to  return, 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol,  iii.  p.  335.  -j-  bid.  vol.  iii.  p.  329,  336. 


320  Propagation  of  Christianity 

and  to  resume  their  labours  in  that  island,  cheerless  as  was 
the  prospect  before  them:  The  king-  wrote  several  letters  in 
the  most  affectionate  strain,  intreating  tliem  to  come  back, 
and  expressing  the  deepest  sorrow  at  their  absence.  Peace, 
too,  was  now  re-established  in  the  island,  and  the  authority 
of  Pomare  was  again  acknowledged.  Accordingly,  in  July 
1811,  Messrs.  Bicknell  and  Scott,  with  their  wives,  whom 
they  had  lately  married,  sailed  in  a  small  schooner  which 
was  bound  for  Otaheite  to  take  in  pork;  and  a  few  weeks  af- 
ter Messrs.  Henry  Davies  and  Wilson,  who  could  not  be 
accommodated  in  that  vessel  embarked  on  board  another 
ship.  Messrs.  Eyre,  Tessier,  and  Elder,  remained  in  New 
South  Wales,  and  we  doubt  not  will  endeavour  to  render 
themselves  useful  in  that  colony.* 

Since  the  return  of  the  missionaries  to  the  South  Sea  isl- 
ands, the  prospects  of  the  mission  have  materially  improved. 
At  Eimeo,  where  they  took  up  their  residence  for  the  pre- 
sent, they  have  begun  a  school  for  the  instruction  of  youth, 
and  they  intended,  as  soon  as  it  was  practicable,  to  model  it 
upon  the  Lancasterian  plan.     By  the  last  accounts,  they  had 
upwards  of  twenty  scholars,  and  they  hoped  that  the  number 
would  soon  be  increased.     There  were  several  of  the  na- 
tives, in  whose  hearts  a  work  of  grace  appeared  to  be  begun, 
and  there  seems  even  ground  to  think  that  some  had  died  in 
the  Lord.     Among  those  who  appear  to  be  under  serious 
impressions  of  religion,  is  Pomare,  the  king  of  Otaheite,  a 
circumstance  v»'lnch  may  ultimately  prove  of  the  greatest  ad- 
vantage to  that  island,  and  which  is  the  more  extraordinary, 
considering  the  rooted  aversion  which  he  had  previously  man- 
ifested to  the  gospel.     In   July  1812,  he  came  to  the   mis- 
sionaries, and  oftered  himself  as  a  candidate  for  Christian 
baptism,  declaring  that  it  was  his  fixed  determination  to 
cleave  to  Jehovah  the  true  God,  and  expressing  his  desire 
to  be  further  instructed  in  the  things   of  God.     This  reso- 
luiion,  he  gave  them  to  understand,  was  the  result  of  lon,^ 

*  JVliss.  Trans,  vol.  iii.  p.  SSr, 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  321 

and  increasing  conviction  of  the  truth  and  excellence  of  the 
gospel.  On  the  missionaries  informing  him  that  it  was  cus- 
tomary for  those  who  offered  themselves  as  candidates  for 
baptism  from  among  the  Heathen,  to  be  further  instructed 
for  some  time  in  the  truths  of  religion,  and  their  conduct 
carefully  inspected,  that  it  might  be  knovv^n  whether  they 
had  truly  forsaken  every  evil  way;  lie  appeared  to  approve 
of  this,  observing,  that  he  was  willing  to  do  as  they  thought 
proper,  and  that  he  left  the  time  of  his  baptism  entirely  to 
to  them.  For  the  present,  howexer,  he  was  obliged  to  re- 
move to  Otaheite,  a  circumstance  which  they  greatly  regret- 
ted, as  it  deprived  him  of  the  means  of  instruction,  except- 
ing by  letter,  and  exposed  him  to  many  and  powerful  temp- 
tations. It  appears,  however,  that  he  strictly  observed  the 
Sabbath,  and  made  an  open  profession  of  Christianity  be- 
fore the  chiefs  and  people;  in  consequence  of  which,  he  has 
already  experienced  a  considerable  degree  of  persecution, 
notwithstanding  the  high  rank  he  holds  on  the  island.* 

To  enable  our  readers  to  form  a  judgment  of  the  state 
of  Pomare's  mind,  we  shall  subjoin  some  extracts  from  let- 
ters which  he  lately  addressed  to  the  missionaries: 

"  May  Jehovah  and  Jesus  Christ,  may  the  Three  One, 
our  only  trust  and  Saviour,  bless  you!  May  my  soul  be  sa- 
ved by  Jesus  Christ!  May  the  anger  of  Jehovah  towards  me 
be  appeased,  who  am  a  wicked  man,  guilty  of  accumulated 
crimes,  of  regardlessness,  and  ignorance  of  the  true  God, 
and  of  an  obstinate  perseverence  in  wickedness!  May  Jehovah 
also  pardon  my  foolishness,  unbelief,  and  rejection  of  the 
truth!  May  Jehovah  give  me  his  good  spirit,  to  sanctify  my 
heart,  that  I  may  love  what  is  good,  and  that  I  may  be  ena- 
bled to  put  away  all  my  evil  customs,  and  become  one  of  his 
people,  and  be  saved  through  Jesus  Christ,  our  only  Saviour. 
You,  indeed  will  be  saved,  you  are  become  the  people  of 
God;  but  I  may  be  banished  to  hell;  God  may  not  regard 
me;  I  am  a  wicked  man,  and  my  sins  are  great  and  accumu- 

•  Evan.  ALai^.  vol.  xxi.  p.  474 
VOL.  ir.  2  S 


322  Fropagation  of  Christianity 

lated.  But  O  that  we  may  all  be  saved  through  Jesus  Christ. 
May  the  anger  of  God  towards  us  all  be  appeased,  for  all  ,of 
us  have  been  disobedient  to  him  as  our  Lord  and  Master. 
Look  at  the  beasts;  they  are  all  obedient  to  him  as  their  lord 
and  master;  but  we  have  not  obeyed  our  Lord  and  Master. 
Surely  we  are  fools!" 

After  mentioning  that  he  had  been  taken  ill  a  few  days  be- 
fore, he  adds:  "  My  affliction  is  great;  but  if  I  can  only  ob- 
tain the  favour  of  God  before  I  die,  I  shall  count  myself 
well  off.  But  oh!  should  I  die  with  my  sins  unpardoned,  it 
will  be  ill  indeed  with  me.  Oh!  may  my  sins  be  pardoned, 
and  my  soul  saved  through  Jesus  Christ,  and  may  Jehovah 
regard  me  before  I  die,  and  then  I  shall  rejoice  because  I 
have  obtained  the  favour  of  Jehovah." 

"  I  continue,"  says  he,  in  another  letter,  "  to  pray  to  God 
without  ceasing.  Regardless  of  other  things,  I  am  concern- 
ed only  that  my  soul  may  be  saved  by  Jesus  Christ!  It  is 
my  earnest  desire,  that  I  may  become  one  of  Jehovah's  peo- 
ple; and  that  God  may  turn  away  his  anger  from  me,  which 
I  deserve  for  my  wickedness,  my  ignorance  of  him,  and  my 
accumulated  crimes. 

If  God  were  to  create  all  mankind  anew,  then  they  would 
be  good.  This  is  my  earnest  desire,  that  God  would  en- 
able me  from  my  heart  to  love  that  which  is  good,  and  to 
abhor  that  which  is  evil,  and  that  I  may  be  saved  by  Jesus 
Christ.  My  dear  friends,  write  to  me  that  I  may  know 
your  minds.  May  Jehovah  and  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour 
bless  you!"* 

From  these  letters,  we  think  it  is  evident  that  Pomare  is 
under  deep  convictions  of  his  sinfulness  and  misery;  and  we 
earnestly  hope  that  they  will  issue  in  his  sincere  conversion 
to  the  Christian  faith.  By  the  last  accounts  peace  was  re- 
stored in  Otaheite;  but  it  does  not  appear  to  rest  on  a  very 
solid  foundation;  nor  does  his  authority  seem  to  be  well  es- 
tablished on  the  island,  t 

•  Evan.  Mag,  vol,  5xi.  p.  476.  fllnd.  vol  xxi.  p.  ^75,  ^77. 


by  the  London  Mismnary  Society.  .523 

ARTICLE  IL 

ToNGATABOO.*" 

IN  March  1797,  captain  Wilson,  after  settling  the  first 
missionaries  in  Otaheite,  sailed  for  Tongataboo,  one  of  the 
Friendly  Islands,  with  the  view  of  forming  a  similar  estab- 
lishment in  that  countr}'.  After  a  voyage  of  about  a  fort- 
night, the  Dulf  arrived  at  Tongataboo,  and  before  she  could 
Avell  come  to  anchor,  she  was  surrounded  by  numbers  of  the 
natives,  who  flocked  to  her,  not  only  from  that,  but  from  the 
neighbouring  islands.  In  a  short  time,  two  Europeans  came 
on  board,  named  Benjamin  Ambler,  who  professed  to  be  a 
native  of  London,  and  John  Connelly,  who  said  he  was  born 
at  Cork.     It  soon  appeared  that  they  were  base  worthless 

*  Tongataboo  is  about  20  leagues  in  circuit,  and  nearly  triangular 
in  form.  Its  northern  side  i&  indented  by  a  large  bay,  which  communi- 
cates with  an  extensive  lagoon  within  the  island.  The  shore  in  this 
part  is  low  and  sandy;  but  ascends  on  the  other  sides  of  the  island  in 
a  perpendicular  coral  rock,  from  seven  to  ten  feet  above  the  sea 
at  flood  tide.  The  inteiior  is  diversified  by  many  gentle  rising 
grounds.  The  vegetable  productions  are  similar  to  those  of  Otaheite, 
the  cocoa  nut  being  in  greater  perfection,  the  bread-fruit  in  less,  than 
at  the  more  lofty  islands. 

Tongataboo  is  divided  into  three  large  districts,  viz.  Aheefo,  at  the 
northwest  end;  Mooa,  the  middle  district;  and  Ahogee,  situate  at  the 
southeast  part,  eacli  governed  by  a  chief,  who  reigns  with  absolute  au- 
thority, and  claims  a  right  of  disposal  over  the  lives  and  property  of 
his  own  subjects,  which  is  exercised  most  despotically.  These  dis- 
tricts are  subdivided  into  many  smaller  ones,  which  liave  each  their 
respective  chiefs  presiding  over  them,  who  exercise  the  same  autliority 
as  the  superior  chiefs,  to  whom  they  are  nevertheless,  in  some  cases, 
accountable:  so  tliat  the  whole  resemble  the  ancient  feudal  system  of 
Europe. 

Tlie  people  fully  answer  to  the  most  favourable  representations  the 
world  has  ever  received  of  them;  their  bounty  and'  liberality  to  strang- 
ers is  very  great,  and  their  generosity  to  one  another  unequalled. — 
The  murder  of  cliildren,  and  other  horrid  practices,  wliich  prevail 
among  the  Otaheitans,  are  unheard  of  here.  Their  children  are  much 
indulged,  and  old  age  hon«red  and  revered. 

Smith's  Journal^  p.  152,  153. 

This  island  is  in  lat.  21°  9'  S.  and  long.  174°  46'  W. 

^falham'fi  A'aval  Gazetteer,  vol.  ii, 


524  Propagation  of  Christianity 

fellows;  and  tliough  they  pretended  that  the}-  ^^•ere  sailors 
who  had  left  an  American  vessel  which  touched  at  Ton- 
gataboo,  it  is  more  likely  they  were  convicts,  who  had  es- 
caped from  New  South  Wales,  and  secreted  themselves  on 
this  island,  where  they  could  indulge,  without  restraint,  in 
those  habits  of  idleness  and  profligacy  to  which  they  were 
addicted.  Bad,  however,  as  they  were,  it  was  deemed  ex- 
pedient to  employ  them  as  a  medium  of  intercourse  with  the 
chiefs,  in  behalf  of  the  missionaries,  particularly  in  explain- 
ing the  nature  of  their  undertaking,  and  their  desire  to  settle 
on  the  island.* 

Engaged  by  handsome  presents,  Ambler  and  Connelly 
went  to  Moomooe,  the  Dugona  or  principal  chief  of  the 
island;  and  having  impressed  him  with  a  favourable  opinion 
of  the  missionaries,  they  returned  the  next  morning  with  a 
present  of  three  hogs  and  some  yams  from  the  old  man,  and 
informed  them  that  he  himself  intended  soon  to  follow.  Ac- 
C'Ordingly,  it  was  not  long  before  the  A^enerable  chief  made 
his  appearance,  with  upwards  of  twenty  attendants;  and  as 
they  expressed  great  admiration  of  the  cabin  and  its  furni- 
ture, particularly  the  looking-glasses,  chairs  and  table,  they 
were  informed  that  the  men  who  had  come  to  settle  upon 
the  island  could  teach  them  to  make  such  useful  articles;  a 
circumstance  which  seemed  to  transport  them  with  joy. — 
Captain  Wilson  embraced  this  opportunity  of  mentioning 
every  circumstance  which  could  raise  in  their  minds  a  high 
idea  of  the  missionaries,  and  asked  Moomooe  whether  he 
was  willing  that  they  should  settle  upon  the  island,  and  what 
provision  he  would  make  for  them.  To  this  the  chief  re- 
plied, that  they  should  have  a  house  near  his  own,  until  one 
more  suitable  could  be  provided;  that  they  should  have  a 
piece  of  land  for  their  use;  and  that  he  would  take  care  that 
neither  their  persons  nor  their  property  should  be  molested. 
There  were,  however,  various  objections  to  settling  in  the 

•  Miss.  Voyage,  p.  92,  96.    Autb,  Nar.  p.  68, 


,*■ 


m$Z 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  325 

place  he  proposed.  Several  others  of  the  chiefs,  mdeed, 
were  anxious  that  some  oi  the  missionaries  should  come  and 
live  with  them;  but  as  it  was  thought  most  expedient  that 
they  should  keep  together  in  a  body,  at  least  for  the  present, 
it  was  agreed  that  they  should  all  live  with  Toogahowe,  who 
Avas  considered  as  the  most  powerful  and  warlike  chief  on 
the  island,  and  as  likely  to  be  the  successor  of  the  aged 
Dugona,  v/ho  seemed  now  on  the  brink  of  the  grave. — 
Agreeably  to  this  arrangement,  the  following  ten  mission- 
aries, Messrs.  Daniel  Bowell,  John  Buchanan,  James  Coop- 
er, S.  Gaulton,  Samuel  Harper,  Seth  Kelso,  Isaac  Nobbs,* 
AVilliam  Shelly,  James  Wilkinson,  and  George  Veeson, 
landed  on  the  island,  and  took  up  their  residence  at  Aheifo, 
under  the  protection  of  that  powerful  chief.! 

Havinij   seen  the   missionaries   settled  in   this  favourable 
situation,  and  on  the  most  friendly  terms  with  the  chiefs  and 
the  people,   captain  Wilson   prepared  to  take  his  departure 
from  the  island.     Scarcely  had  he  sailed  when  a  tremendous 
gale  arose,  and  the  mountainous  billows  quickly  tossed  the 
vessel  along  the  ocean.     The  missionaries   watched  her  la- 
bouring amidst  the  waves,  till  she  sunk  in  the  horizon  from 
their  view.      A  sigh  of  sadness  then  arose,  some  tears  of  re- 
gret fell  from  their  eyes,   whilst  they  looked  round  on  the 
island,   far  distant  from  the  regions  of  civilized  life,  as  the 
scene  where  they  were  to  pass  and  to  end  their  days:  "  This," 
said  they  to  each   other,    "  is  the  ground  where   our  bodies 
will  moulder   into   dust;   this  we  must  now  consider  as  our 
country  and  our  grave."     But  they  were  ten  in  number,  all 
social  and  friendly,  all  of  similar  sentiments,   all  united  in 
zeal  for  the  honour  of  the  Redeemer,  all  glowing  with  con- 
cern for  the  salvation  of  the  kind  but  ignorant  inhabitants  of 
the  island.     These  circumstances  contributed  not  a  little  to 
soothe  and  support  their  minds  on  this  trying  occasion. | 

\  Miss  \o\ag-e,  p.  99.     Auth.  \ar.  p.  63.  \.  Ibid,  p.  74. 

*  Nobbs,  returned  with  the  Duff  on  account  of  the  state  of  his  health. 


326  Fropagation  of  Christianity 

After  the  departure  of  the  Duff,  the  natives  came  in  great 
numbers  to  visit  the  missionaries,  to  pay  their  respects  to 
them,  and  to  gratify  their  own  curiosity.  None  of  them, 
Iiowever,  came  without  considerable  presents  of  cloth,  roast- 
ed pigs,  bunches  of  plantains,  or  strings  of  cocoa-nuts.  The 
chiefs  and  the  people  appeared  to  vie  with  each  other  in 
shewing  them  respect  and  attention.  The  presents  of  bales 
of  cloth  and  mats  which  were  brought  them,  were  at  length 
so  numerous,  that  the  missionaries  had  not  room  to  deposit 
them;  nor  was  the  cloth  so  contemptible  as  some  may 
imagine.  It  was  made  of  the  inner  barks  of  trees,  moulded, 
battered,  and  spread  in  such  a  manner  as  to  form  a  fine  stout 
article,  which  when  fringed  with  white,  constituted  not  only 
a  becoming  but  an  elegant  dress.* 

In  return  for  their  kindness,  the  missionaries  made  them 
as  many  presents  as  their  stock  of  articles  would  afford,  par- 
ticularly the  chief  under  whose  protection  they  lived.  They 
always  treated  their  visitors  with  the  utmost  attention,  and 
were  most  assiduous  in  gratifying  their  curiosity.  Having 
fixed  up  a  cuckoo  clock,  it  was  viewed  by  the  natives  with 
the  utmost  astonishment,  even  before  it  was  put  in  motion; 
but  their  wonder  was  increased  a  thousand  fold,  when,  on 
its  being  set  a  going,  the  bird  came  out,  crying,  *'  cuckoo, 
cuckoo."  Such  was  their  wonder,  that,  for  sometime,  they 
could  not  take  their  eyes  off  it;  then  they  looked  at  each 
other,  dumb  with  astonishment,  and  at  length  withdrew  in 
perfect  amazement.  The  news  of  this  wonderful  curiosity, 
quickly  spread  over  the  whole  island.  It  was  reported  that 
the  missionaries  had  got  Accoidair^  that  is,  "  wood  that 
speaks."  The  numerous  visitors  which  it  attracted  com- 
pletely occupied  them  from  early  in  the  morning,  till  late  in 
the  evening;  and  at  length  they  multiplied  so  greatly,  that 
it  was  necessary  to  refuse  admittance  to  many  of  them.f 

Among  their  many  visitors,  was  Duatonga,  who,  in  rc- 

•  Auth.  Nar.  p.  75.  f  I^ul,  p.  76. 


>«.'^;/i:^^?V>'^''3f 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  327 

spect  of  power,  was  the  second  chief  in  the  island.  As  he 
was  highly  delighted  with  the  cuckoo  clock,  the  mission- 
aries, who  had  several  of  them,  were  happy  to  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  gratifying  him  with  so  acceptable  a  present.  Hav- 
ing carried  it  home  with  him,  he  was  prompted  by  curiosity 
to  examine  the  inside,  and  readily  succeeded  in  taking  it  to 
pieces;  but  he  had  not  skill  to  put  it  together  again.  He 
then  sent  for  the  missionaries  to  mend  it.  They  made  the 
attempt,  but  being  unacquainted  with  the  mechanism  of  a 
clock,  they  were  equally  unsuccessful.  This  circumstance 
lessened  them  not  a  little  in  the  eyes  of  the  natives,  and 
brought  down  upon  them  a  great  deal  of  ridicule;  while,  at 
the  same  time,  it  flattered  the  natural  vanity  of  the  Tongas, 
who  now  prided  themselves  in  the  idea  that  they  were  at 
least  as  skilful  as  "the  men  of  the  sky.''*t 

But  while  the  missionaries  Mere,  in  general,  treated  with 
the  utmost  attention  and  respect  by  the  natives,  they  met 
with  no  small  trouble  and  molestation  from  their  own  coun- 
trymen. No  sooner  had  the  Duff  sailed  from  Tongataboo, 
than  Ambler  and  Connelly,  together  with  a  fellow  of  the 
name  of  Morgan,  one  of  their  companions,  who  was  on  a 
neighbouring  island,  began  to  harass  them.  The  conduct 
of  the  missionaries,  so  opposite  to  their  abandoned  habits, 
provoked  their  enmity;  the  goods  they  possessed  excited 
their  avarice.  The  ruffians  had  already  obtained  from  them 
a  variety  of  articles  to  a  considerable  amount;  but  their  ap- 
plications at  length,  became  so  frequent  and  so  extravagant, 
as  to  be  altogether  intolerable,  and  it  became  absolutely  ne- 
cessary to  refuse  them.  Not  discouraged  by  this,  they  \\o\\\ 
with  the  utmost  impudence,  demanded  the  goods  as  their 

riglit;  and  one  day  they  entered  the  habitation  of  tlie  mis- 

« 

\  Authentic  Narrative,  p.  78. 

*  The  natives  called  them  "  the  men  of  tlie  sky,"  because,  as  they 
observed,  that  the  sky  appeared  to  touch  the  ocean  in  tlie  distant  ho- 
ri'/.on,  and  as  tliey  knew  that  tlie  missionaries  came  from  an  immense 
distance,  they  naturally  enough  concluded,  that  they  must  have  come 
through  the  sky  to  arrive  at  Tongataboo.     Auth.  A'ar.  p.  95. 


328  Propagation  of  Christianity 

sionaries  by  force,  with  the  view  of  carrying  off  their  proper- 
ty. One  of  them  ran  up  to  Kelso  and  struck  him;  the  other 
assaulted  another  of  the  missionaries;  but  being  overpower- 
ed by  numbers,  they  were  soon  driven  from  the  place. — 
They  went  away  breathing  forth  dreadful  imprecations,  and 
threatening  that  they  would  inflame  the  natives  against  them, 
and  that  not  one  of  them  should  be  left  alive  until  the  morn- 
ing. Had  they  possessed  much  authority  with  the  Tongas, 
there  is  little  doubt  the  whole  of  the  missionaries  would  have 
been  sacrificed  to  their  malice;  but  their  infamous  conduct 
had  rendered  them  so  unpopular,  that  they  had  little  influence 
with  the  natives.* 

The  missionaries,  however,  were  much  alarmed  by  their 
proceedings;  and  partly  for  this  reason,  partly  on  account  of 
the  little  progress  they  made  in  the  language  while  living  to- 
gether, and  partly  as  they  heard  various  reports  of  the  de- 
signs of  the  chiefs  to  attack  them  and  seize  their  property, 
they  came  to  a  resolution  to  separate,  and  to  take  up  their 
residence  in  small  parties  with  diflferent  chiefs.  Three  of 
them  accordingly  remained  at  Aheefo,  under  the  protection 
of  Toogahowe,  who  was  now  the  Dugona  or  principal  chief 
of  the  island,  in  consequence  of  his  father's  death;  two  went 
to  Mooa,  to  live  with  Duatonga;  two  to  Ardeo,  to  reside 
with  Vargee;  one  took  up  his  abode  at  Ahogee  with  Moree; 
and  one  with  a  chief  of  the  name  of  Mulkaamainf 

Before  leaving  the  Pacific  Ocean,  captain  Wilson  returned 
in  the  Duff,  to  Tongataboo,J  with  the  view  of  learning  the 
situation  of  the  missionaries,  the  treatment  they  had  received 
from  the  natives  during  his  absence,  and  the  prospects  of 

•  Auth.  Nar.  p-  80. 

f  Auth.  Nar.  p.  81.    Miss.  Voj-age,  p,  249,  255.     Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  256. 

t  Nothing  particularly  occurred  in  the  course  of  this  second  voy 
age  from  Otaheitc,  except  the  following  circuiiistance,  which  ex- 
liibits  an  interesting  picture  of  the  workings  of  paternal  affection,  even 
in  the  rudest  and  most  ignorant  ranks  of  society.  As  the  Duff  sailed 
by  Huaheine,  several  canoes  came  along  side,  in  one  of  which  was  an 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  329 

bucccss  on  the  island.  He  was  happy  to  hear  of  the  kind- 
ness and  respect  with  which  the  Tongas  had  in  general  trea- 
ted them;  but  the  accounts  he  had  received  of  Ambler,  Con- 
nelly, and  Morgan,  determined  him,  if  possible,  to  carry 
them  off  the  island,  that  so  they  might  create  the  missiona- 
ries no  further  uneasiness.  Connelly  he  seized,  but  Am- 
bler and  Morgan  learning  his  design,  made  their  escape. 
One  day,  Veeson  the  missionary,  accompanied  by  several 
men  from  the  ship,  proceeded,  well  armed,  to  the  place  of 
their  retreat.  After  searching  for  them  in  vain,  night  came 
on,  when  Veeson,  happening  to  advance  from  the  field  be- 
fore the  rest,  up  a  narrow  lane,  met  with  some  of  the  natives, 
and  asked  them  if  they  had  seen  Ambler.  Without  mak- 
ing him  any  reply,  they  seized  him,  and  held  him  fast  with 
his  arms  behind  his  body;  then  they  dragged  him  forward 
along  the  lane,  and  threw  him  on  his  back.     Whilst  two  or 

Irishman  named  Connar,  one  of  tlie  crew  of  the  Matilda,  a  vessel  which 
had  been  wrecked  about  1792.  To  the  astonishment  of  the  captain 
and  his  men,  he  had  forgotton  his  native  tongue  so  completely,  that  he 
was  able  to  recollect  only  a  few  words,  and  if  he  began  a  sentence  in 
English,  he  was  obliged  to  finish  it  in  the  language  of  the  islanders. — 
He  had  even  forgot  the  time  that  had  elapsed  since  he  was  ship- 
wrecked, but  supposed  it  was  eight  years,  whereas  it  was  only  about 
five.  Having  obtained  from  captain  Wilson  a  passage  to  England,  he 
went  ashore  to  take  farewell  of  his  wife  and  child.  His  wife  he  treated 
with  the  utmost  indifterence,  and,  indeed,  he  had  declared,  he  did  not 
care  what  became  of  her;  but  when  he  took  in  his  arms  the  child,  a 
most  beautiful  infant,  about  eight  or  nine  months  old,  the  tears  glis- 
tened m  his  eyes,  and  he  seemed  now  to  hesitate  whether  to  remain  in 
a  situation  where  he  was  in  perpetual  jeopardy  of  his  life,  or  by  extri- 
cating himself  from  it,  to  leave  behind  him  his  beloved  daughter  in  the 
hands  of  savages.  Persisting,  however,  in  his  first  resolution,  he  em- 
barked in  the  canoe,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  his  lovely  infant. — 
By  the  way  slie  was  asked  whether  she  would  not  part  with  the  child.-* 
"  No,"  she  replied,  "  not  for  any  thing."  As  several  chiefs  and  other 
natives  were  on  board  the  Dutt",  it  was  some  tnne  before  this  aftair 
could  be  settled,  and  thus  he  had  a  farther  opportunity  for  delibera- 
tion. The  poor  fellow  never  let  the  infant  out  of  his  arms,  and,  at 
length,  the  workings  of  a  father's  heart  prevailed  over  the  love  of 
country,  and  concern  for  his  own  personal  safety.  He  told  the  cap- 
tain, he  found  it  impossible  to  leave  his  child,  which  all  on  board  were 
glad  to  hear,  for  the  sake  of  the  poor  helpless  babe,  A  few  useful  ar- 
ticles were  then  presented  to  him.  The  Duif  immediately  proceeded 
on  her  voyage,  while  he  returned  to  the  shoi'e.     Miss.  Voyage^  p.  227, 

VOL.  II.  £  T 


330  Propagation  of  Christianiti/ 

three  held  him  firm,  another  raised  his  club  to  strike  him 
on  the  head.  Instant  death  seemed  now  inevitable.  Just, 
however,  at  that  moment,  the  moon  emerged  from  under  a 
cloud,  and  shining  full  in  his  face  as  he  lay  on  the  ground, 
discovered  who  he  was.  Awed  by  reverence  for  Mulkaa- 
mair  the  chief,  with  whom  he  resided,  they  immediately  drop- 
ped their  clubs,  as  they  knew  he  was  a  particular  favourite 
with  him.  His  companions,  alarmed  by  his  cries,  now  came 
up,  and  fired  upon  his  assailants.  The  villains  instantly  fled, 
but  afterwards  followed  the  sailors  for  sometime,  as  they  re- 
tired to  their  boat.* 

Veeson  did  not  accompany  his  companions  to  the  ship, 
but  returned  to  his  own  habitation.     On  his  arrival,   how- 
ever, he  was  surprised  to  find  the  doors  of  the  inclosure  se- 
cured, and  was  obliged  to  stop  some  time  in  the  public  road. 
He,  at   length,  succeeded  in  forcing  the  entrance;  but,  on 
going  in,  he  was  alarmed  to  see  a  number  of  the  natives  all 
under  arms.     As  he  approached,  they  pointed  their  spears 
at  him,   and  told  him  they  had  learned  from   Ambler  and 
Morgan,  that  it  was  the  intention  of  him  and  his  friends  to 
seize  on  the  island,  and  kill  the  inhabitants.     These  miscre- 
ants, it  seems,  had  succeeded  in  rousing  the  jealousy  and  in- 
dignation of  the  Tongas,  by  this  foul  and  malignant  calum- 
ny.    They  laboured,  indeed,  by  every  mean  in  their  power, 
to  lessen  the  missionaries,  and  to  exalt  themselves  in  the  es- 
timation of  the  natives.     They  gave  it  out,  for  instance,  that 
they  were  persons  of  the  first  rank  in  their  own  country,  that 
one  of  them  was  the  king's  son,  the  other  a  duke  or  great 
chief;  but  that  the  missionaries  were  of  the  lower  orders  of 
the  people,  and  servants  to  them.f 

The  missionaries  afterwards  thought  it  best  to  have  no 
correspondence  with  these  two  fellows;  and,  indeed,  there 
was  soon  no  need  either  to  court  their  favour,  or  to  dread  their 
resentment,  for  they  totally  lost  the  confidence  of  the  natives. 
Notwithstanding  their  high  pretensions  of  being  dukes  or 

■  «  Auth.  Nar.  p.  8.3,  85.         T  I'litl-  P-  ^7- 


i 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  331 

princes,  the  Tongas  had  ingenuity  enough  to  conchide,  that 
had  they  been  men  of  rank,  as  they  said,  they  would  surely 
liave  received  presents  from  their  own  country  as  well  as  the 
missionaries.  They  accordingly  treated  them  with  little 
respect;  and  in  consequence  of  their  bad  conduct,  they  at 
length  put  tliem  both  to  death;  Ambler,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  a  civil  war,  of  which  we  shall  shortly  speak  on  ac- 
count of  his  having  spoken  disrespectfully  of  a  neighbouring 
chief,  and  endeavouring  to  raise  disturbances  in  the  island; 
Morgan,  two  or  three  years  afterwards,  for  brutally  violating 
the  daughter  of  one  of  the  chiefs.* 

Immediately  after  Veeson  took  up  his  residence  with 
Mulkaamair,  it  was  reported,  by  the  natives,  that  he  coha- 
bited with  one  of  the  native  women;  and  in  fact,  some  parts 
of  his  conduct  too  well  corresponded  with  such  a  rumour; 
yet,  as  he  possitively  denied  the  charge,  while  the  Duff  was 
on  the  island,  it  was  thought  best  by  most  of  the  missiona- 
ries, as  well  as  by  captain  Wilson,  to  allow  him  to  remain. 
She  had  scarcely,  however,  sailed  a  week,  when,  to  the  inex- 
pressible grief  of  his  brethren,  he  acknowledged  his  crimi- 
nality, but  still  he  denied  that  it  was  any  earlier  than  the  night 
before.  The  missionaries  who  resided  nearest  to  him,  ex- 
postulated with  him  on  the  guilt  and  danger  of  his  conduct; 
and  at  first  it  seemed  as  if  their  expostulations  were  not  in 
vain.  But  their  hopes  were  quickly  dashed,  by  his  ming- 
ling with  the  Heathen,  and  showing  a  strong  disposition  to 
learn  their  ways,  in  which,  alas!  he  at  length  arrived  at  an 
awful  proficiency.  As,  however,, he  proposed  to  marry  the 
woman  with  whom  he  lived,  his  fellow  missionaries  agreed 
to  solemnise  the  marriage,  as  what  they  considered  the  only 
remedy  now  left.  But  when  the  parties  came  before  them, 
and  they  explained  to  the  Avoman  the  nature  of  the  marriage 
covenant,  that  it  was  an  agreement  for  life  to  be  faithful  to 
her  husband,  and  nothing  but  death  could  release  her  from 
the  bond,  the  poor  creature  burst  into  tears,  and  refused  to 

*  Auth,  Nar.  p.  90. 


332  Propagation  of  Christianity 

come  under  such  an  obligation,  alleging  as  a  reason,  that  no 
due  affection  subsisted  between  them,  and  that  she,  for  her 
part,  was  influenced  merely  by  the  fear  of  the  chief,  and  her 
parents.  Under  such  circumstances,  the  missionaries  could 
not  proceed  with  the  ceremony,  as  such  a  marriage  would 
have  been  contrary  not  only  to  the  laws  of  their  country, 
but  to  every  principle  of  common  sense.  She  was  therefore 
conducted  back  to  her  father;  but  Veeson  soon  after  sent  for 
her,  and  lived  with  her  as  his  w.ife»  The  missionaries  did 
not  yet  exclude  him  from  their  society,  but  embraced  every 
opportunity  of  remonstrating  and  expostulating  with  him 
concerning  his  irreligious  and  immoral  conduct.  All,  how- 
ever was  in  vain.  He  now  threw  off  the  mask  of  Christi- 
anity so  completely,  that  he  did  not  know  the  Sabbath  when 
it  came,  and  even  returned  them  his  Bible,  though  earnestly 
requested  to  keep  it.  After  some  months,  therefore,  they 
proceeded  to  exclude  him  from  their  little  society,  though 
it  was  with  a  sorrowful  heart.  *f 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  257.-  262,  266,  268,  272,  275.   Auth.  Nai-.  p.  126. 

t  The  progress  of  Veeson  in  apostacy  is  thus  described  in  the  Nar- 
rative of  his  residence  in  Tongataboo,  written  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Piggot 
of  Nottingham,  a  clergyman  of  the  church  of  England,  from  materials 
furnished  by  himself: 

"  Accustomed  to  scenes  of  pleasure,  luxury,  and  amusement,  among 
tlie  natives:  unrestrained  by  the  presence  of  my  companions,  unas- 
sisted by  any  public  means  of  grace;  having  singly  to  stem  the  torrent 
of  iniquity,  it  was  not  long  before  I  felt  the  pernicious  influence  of  gene- 
ral example.  This,  however,  was  much  owing  to  my  negligence  of  pri- 
vate duties,  and  my  yielding  to  the  corrupt  inclinations  of  my  sinful 
nature.  Indeed,  when  I  look  back,  I  perceive  that  the  unsubdued  pro- 
pensities of  my  heart,  which  began  to  operate  before  I  came  to  reside 
with  Mulkaamair,  were  not  duly  resisted.  Instead  of  praying  for 
grace  to  withstand  and  mortify  them,  I  began  to  indulge  in  foolish 
imaginations,  and  to  neglect  the  needful  exercises  of  private  prayer, 
reading  the  Bible,  and  meditation.  These  first  steps  out  of  the  path 
of  duty,  which  are  generally  taken  by  most  backsliders,  soon  led  me 
into  further  aberrations  from  the  right  way.  I  began  to  dislike  the 
means  of  grace;  I  never  visited  the  brethren;  I  found  delight,  in  the 
company,  manners,  and  amusements  of  the  natives;  and  soon  took  too 
large  a  part  in  them.  As  the  religious  impressions  of  my  mind  were 
weakened,  the  corrupt  dispositions  of  my  heart  gathered  strength. — 
Yet  at  times  my  conscience  troubled  me  with  loud  accusations  of  in- 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  333 

Though  the  missionaries  were  in  general  well  treated  by 
the  natives,  yet  in  various  instances  it  was  otherwise,  and 
there  were  even  cases  in  which  they  were  in  imminent  danger 
of  their  life.     In  the  summer  of  1798,  it  was  reported  that 

consistency  which  forced  me  to  pray.  At  length,  however,  I  became 
so  hardened,  as  to  desp;s<>  irij  convictions;  and  totally  absented  myself 
from  tho-e  periodica'  meetings  of  the  brethren  which  might  have  re- 
vived tbem.  My  regard  for  tliem  daily  diminished,  and  1  left  off  vi- 
siting them. 

My  evil  inclinations,  now  unchecked  by  law.  and  by  the  reverential 
sense  ot  the  divine  Being,  gradually  gained  the  dominion.  As  my 
sense  of  the  turpitude  and  guilt  of  sin  was  weakened,  the  vices  of  the 
natives  appeared  less  odious  and  criminal.  After  a  time,  I  was  in- 
duced to  yield  to  their  allurements,  to  imitate  their  manners,  and  to 
join  them  in  their  sins. 

Modesty,  by  degrees,  lost  witli  me  its  moralizing  charm;  and  it  was 
not  long  ere  I  disencumbered  myself  of  my  European  garment,  and 
contented  myself  with  the  native  dress.  At  this  time  Skelly,  one  of 
my  former  companions,  came  to  see  me.  He  was  struck  with  grief 
and  surprise  at  my  appearance,  and  seriously  reproved  me  for  it  My 
conscience  seconded  his  reproofs.  I  acknowledged  my  error,  but  ex- 
cused myself  by  a  variety  of  empty  pretexts;  such  as  the  warmth  of 
the  climate;  the  general  custom  of  the  natives;  its  convenience  in  a 
country,  where,  when  clothes  were  wet,  it  was  difficult  to  dry  them 
again,  and,  when  worn  out,  impossible  to  renew  them.  Skelly  heard 
my  excuses  with  pity,  but  did  not  see  into  the  long  train  of  evils  con- 
nected with  this  violation  of  propriety;  nor  knew  that  my  conscience, 
while  I  spoke,  condemned  the  excuses  with  which  I  had  softened  his 
severity.  In  truth,  the  various  temptations  to  which,  till  now,  I  had 
been  an  entire  stranger,  were  too  pleasing  to  the  inclinations,  and 
suitable  to  the  taste  of  a  young  man  of  twenty -five. 

Unhappily,  as  the  companion  of  the  chiefs,  I  was  constantly  exposed 
to  temptation,  being  present  at  every  alluring  scene.  He  that  indulges 
an  evil  imagination  with  amusements  that  tend  to  pollute  the  heart, 
will  soon  be  seduced  into  criminality.  No  wonder  then  that  the  vo- 
luptuous attractions  of  several  objects,  thus  daily  presented  to  mc. 
should  in  time  allure  me  into  the  paths  of  vice. 

It  was  not  long  after  I  had  begun  to  imitate  the  dress  and  manners 
of  the  natives,  and  join  their  amusements,  before  Mulkaamair,  the 
chief  with  whom  I  lodged,  persuaded  me  to  take  a  wife,  a  near  rela- 
tion of  his  own.  My  conscience  loudly  cautioned  me  not  to  be  guilty 
of  the  sin  of  cohabiting  with  a  woman  without  the  sanction  of  mar- 
riage; and  of  taking  a  wife  who  was  a  Heathen,  and  perfectly  destitute 
of  every  mental  as  well  as  religious  endowment,  who  would'  most  pro- 
bably lead  me  still  farther  from  the  right  way.  But  all  tbese  reason- 
ings my  evil  inclinations  soon  taught  me  to  refute  or  silence.  Mul- 
kaamair was  my  chief  friend,  and  regarded  me  Avith  parental  aifectioji. 
I  should  gratify,  honour,  and  in  some  measure  repay  him  for  his  kind 
ness,  by  taking  a  relation  of  his  for  mv  wife:  and  thus  also  sttenn-theri 


334  Propagation  of  Christianity 

most  of  the  principal  men  on  the  island  had  solicited  Tooga- 
howe,  the  Dugona,  to  put  them  all  to  death,  instigated,  it 
was  supposed,  by  a  desire  of  their  property,  as  well  as  by 
jealousy  of  their  designs.  At  that  time  the  missionaries 
gave  no  credit  to  the  rumour,  for  the  chiefs  in  general  treat- 
ed them  with  so  much  friendship,  that  they  could  not  sus- 
pect them  of  so  base  a  design;  but  afterwards  they  were  as- 
sured, that  about  that  period  there  was  actually  a  conspira- 
cy on  foot  to  murder  them;  that  some  of  those  who  professed 
the  greatest  regard  for  them,  were  the  most  active  in  it;  that 
the  Dugona  was  nearly  consenting  to  cut  off  those  who  were 
under  his  protection;  and  that,  had  this  taken  place,  it  is  not 
probable  the  others  would  have  been  long  allowed  to  sur- 
vive them.  In  this  emergency,  however,  Providence  raised 
up  to  them  some  friends,  who  stood  firmly  by  them,  and 
plead  their  cause;  by  which  means  their  enemies  were  silen- 
ced, and  the  conspiracy  broken.  Shortly  after,  however, 
ten  or  twelve  of  the  natives  entered  the  house  of  Mr.  Coop- 
er, about  three  o'clock  one  morning.  After  threatening  to 
murder  him  if  he  made  any  opposition  or  noise,  they  order- 
ed him  out  of  doors,  stript  off  his  shirt,  and  carried  away 
whatever  tliey  could  find  in  the  house.  Happily,  however, 
they  did  him  no  personal  injury,  and  when  day-light  return- 

my  interests  with  the  rest  of  the  natives,  by  forming  an  alliance  with 
them.  Pleased  with  these  considerations,  I  consented.  He  sent  tor 
her:  she  agreed,  and  came  modestly  dressed  in  her  best  apparel,  at  the 
head  of  a  number  of  women;  one  of  whom  taking  her  by  the  hand,  and 
leading  her  to  me,  seated  her  by  my  side.  She  was  a  handsome  girl  of 
the  age  of  eighteen.  Mulkaamair  entertained  the  large  company  as- 
sembled on  the  occasion  with  a  plenteous  feast,  and  they  danced  and 
sung  till  a  late  hour. 

My  marriage,  which  for  a  time  rendered  me  very  happy,  threw 
down  every  barrier  of  restraint,  which  hitherto  my  conscience  Iiad  op- 
posed to  my  inclinations,  and  opened  the  door  to  every  indulgence. — 
1  lament  to  say,  that  I  now  entered  with  the  utmost  eagerness  into 
every  pleasure  and  entertainment  of  the  natives,  and  endeavoured  to 
forget  that  I  was  once  called  a  Christian,  and  liad  left  a  Christian  land 
to  evangelize  the  Heathen.  Into  such  excesses  is  man  ready  to  run 
when  once  he  has  violated  his  conscience,  and  given  way  to  tempta- 
tion."— Auth.  J\'ar.  p.  107. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  ^2>B 

ed,  he  found  they  had  left  him  an  old  coat,  and  a  few  articles 
of  iron  which  they  had  missed  in  the  dark.* 

Hitherto  the  missionaries  had  been  able  to  effect  little  or 
nothing  with  regard  to  the  main  object  of  their  settlement 
upon  the  island.  In  learning  the  language  of  the  natives, 
they  had  greater  and  more  numerous  difficulties  to  encoun- 
ter than  they  had  been  taught  to  expect.  They  found  it  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  convey  to  them  any  proper  ideas  even  of 
natural  things,  with  which  they  had  not  been  conversant, 
much  more  of  objects  which  are  heavenly  and  divine.  They 
had  just,  however,  formed  a  plan  for  improving  themselves 
in  the  language,  and  for  reducing  it  to  grammatical  order, 
when  an  event  occurred,  which  not  only  deranged  the  whole 
of  their  scheme,  but  involved  the  island  in  devastation  and 
ruin.f 

In  April  1799,  Toogahowe,  the  Dugona  of  the  island,  was 
treacherously  murdered  by  Loogalalla  and  his  brother,  two 
of  his  own  cousins.  The  chiefs  of  Tongataboo,  and  of  all 
the  neighbouring  islands,  being  assembled  at  this  time  for  the 
celebration  of  an  annual  religious  ceremony,  Loogalalla  chose 
this  opportunity  for  the  execution  of  his  barbarous  purpose. 
He  communicated  his  design  to  a  number  of  other  daring 
men,  who,  after  appearing  at  the  ceremony,  embarked  in 
their  canoes  as  if  to  return  to  their  own  part  of  the  island. 
They  hovered,  however,  off  the  coast,  landed  again  in  the 
evening,  and  after  stationing  a  guard  at  every  avenue  leading 
to  the  Dugona's  residence,  they  proceeded  in  search  of  the 
object  of  their  vengeance.  Him,  and  his  attendants  they 
found  asleep;  but  as  it  was  dark,  they  could  not  at  first  dis- 
tinguish which  was  the  chief,  and  they  were  afraid  to  strike 
the  fatal  blow,  lest  by  killing  the  wrong  person  they  should 
give  the  others  the  alarm.  Unfortunately,  however,  for  Too- 
gahowe, it  is  the  peculiar  privilege  of  the  Dugona  to  anoint 
his  head  with  oil,  strongly  scented  with  a  certain  species  of 
fragrant  wood,   which  is  brought   from  the  Fejcc  islands 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol,  i.  p.  270.        f  Ibid.  vol.  i,  p.  279 


336  Propagation  of  Christianity 

Discovering  him  by  this  empty  distinction,  the  conspirators 
murdered  him,  together  with  seven  or  eight  of  his  attendants. 
The  rest  of  his  followers  fled,  but  as  every  avenue  was 
guarded,  many  of  them  also  were  slain.  Having  thus  effect- 
ed their  bloody  purpose,  Loogalalla  and  his  party  proceeded 
to  the  shore,  and  seizing  as  many  canoes  as  they  needed,  de- 
stroyed all  the  rest  in  order  to  secure  their  retreat.* 

The  news  of  this  event  flew  like  lightning  over  the  whole 
island,  and  seemed  to  fire  every  breast  with  indignation  and 
a  desire  of  revenge.  Loogalalla,  however,  had  many  power- 
ful supporters  among  the  chiefs,  so  that  it  was  evident  no- 
thing but  war  could  decide  the  fate  of  the  island.  Prepara- 
tions were  made  on  both  sides  with  the  utmost  rapidity,  and 
in  a  short  time,  the  two  parties  met  in  the  field  of  battle. 
The  Aheefonians,  or  royalists,  after  three  shouts,  began  the 
contest  with  great  bravery,  and  in  a  short  time  routed  the 
rebels,  who  fled  in  all  directions,  leaving  the  killed  and 
wounded  to  the  mercy,  or  rather  the  cruelty  of  the  victors, 
who  at  first  gave  no  quarter.  Some  of  the  missionaries  were 
present  at  the  battle,  and  witnessed  scenes  of  barbarity  from 
which  humanity  must  recoil.  A  short  way  from  the  spot 
where  the  contest  began,  they  saw  an  old  man  roasting  part 
of  a  dead  body,  apparently  with  a  design  to  eat  it.  At  a 
little  distance  they  beheld  another  spectacle  no  less  shocking: 
it  w^as  the  body  of  a  chief  who  had  fallen  in  battle;  a  fellow 
who  had  severed  the  head  from  the  body,  was  exhibiting 
them  as  a  proof  of  his  prowess;  and  even  some  of  the  women, 
as  they  passed  by,  dipped  their  hands  in  the  blood,  and  lick- 
ed them.f 

Nothing  could  be  more  gratifying  to  the  royalists  than  to 
see  several  of  the  missionaries  marching  to  the  battle,  as  they 
entertained  no  doubt  that  they  had  fire  arms  with  them,  and 
would  employ  them  against  the  rebels.  Accordingly,  on 
every  little  advantage  which  they  obtained,  the  brethren  came 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  281.    Auth.  Nar.  p.  160.        f  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  288. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  337 

on  with  Taleeitoobo,  and  other  imaginary  deities,  for  a  share 
of  their  wannest  acknowledgments;  even  the  dog,  which 
Kelso  led  in  his  hand,  had  abundance  of  kava  presented  to 
it.  But  as  soon  as  it  was  discovered  that  the  missionaries 
took  no  part  in  the  battle,  they  became  almost  as  obnoxious 
to  them  as  their  enemies.  To  remain  where  they  were  was 
therefore  no  longer  safe;  yet  whither  to  go  they  knew  not. 
They  at  length  fled  to  a  place  called  Eeleegoo,  in  the  back 
part  of  the  island,  which  seemed  to  promise  them  the  best 
shelter  that  could  be  found  at  present,  being  inaccessible  for 
canoes  by  a  high  reef  of  coral  rocks  along  the  shore,  and 
very  little  freciuentcd  from  the  land.  Here  they  retired  into 
as  private  a  spot  as  possible,  and  passed  the  greater  part  of 
this  eventful  day  undiscovered  by  the  natives.  In  the 
evening  they  returned  to  their  own  habitation;  but  they 
soon  found  it  was  no  place  of  refuge  for  them,  and  therefore 
they  retired  to  the  house  of  a  neighbour,  who  professed  a 
good  deal  of  friendship  for  them;  but  who,  they  afterwards 
understood,  entertained  serious  thoughts  of  murdering  them 
all,  that  very  night.* 

Next  morning  they  returned  to  Eeleegoo,  and  took  up 
their  station  in  a  wood  near  the  place  where  they  had  hid 
themselves  the  day  before.  Here  they  lay  concealed  until 
about  noon,  when  they  discovered  numl)ers  of  the  natives 
flying  in  all  directions;  and  they  soon  learned  that  a  second 
battle  had  been  fought,  that  the  royalists  were  routed,  and 
that  most  of  their  friends  among  the  chiefs  were  slain. — 
Alarmed  by  this  intelligence,  they  thought  it  best  to  leave 
their  retreat,  and  to  follow  the  crowd.  After  travelling  with 
them  about  two  miles,  they  came  up  with  a  party  of  armed 
men,  who  demanded  their  clothes;  and  as  to  have  refused 
them  would  have  been  at  the  peril  of  their  life,  they  sur- 
rendered them  without  hesitation,  and  so  escaped  unhurt. 

Having  proceeded  a  considerable  way  farther,  tliey  found 

♦  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  289. 
VOL.  II;  9.V 


338  Propagation  of  Christianity 

the  road  turn  more  inland,  and  the  beach  terminate  in  a 
range  of  craggy  rocks,  with  a  thick  wood  between  them  and 
the  country.  Here,  therefore,  they  took  sheher,  as  they 
saw  that  they  were  viewed  with  an  evil  eye  by  many  of  their 
fellow-travellers.  In  the  course  of  the  day,  they  discover- 
ed, in  the  hole  of  a  rock,  a  quantity  of  fresh  water,  Avhich 
afforded  them  a  most  seasonable  refreshment,  and  about  sun- 
set, two  of  them  went  in  search  of  food,  of  which  they  all 
stood  much  in  need,  having  tasted  nothing  except  the  water 
since  the  evening  before.  In  less  than  half  an  hour,  they  re- 
turned with  some  bread-fruit  and  bananas,  which  they  had 
obtained  from  a  company  of  the  natives  whom  they  met  with 
at  a  little  distance;  but  they,  at  the  same  time,  received  from 
them  the  painful  intelligence,  that  the  three  missionaries  at 
Ardea;  Harper,  Bowel,  and  Gaulton,  had  been  murdered  by 
the  Aheefonians  the  preceding  day.*  It  appears  that  the 
royalists,  after  defeating  the  rebels,  continued  to  pursue 
them  till  they  came  to  that  part  of  the  country.  The  mis- 
sionaries, apprehending  that  they  who  had  taken  no  concern 
in  the  war  would  certainly  not  be  molested  by  them,  came 
out  to  view  them  as  they  approached.  Amongst  the  war- 
riors, however,  arrived  one  who  had  formerly  requested 
some  presents,  either  from  them  or  their  brethren,  and  un- 
fortunately had  met  with  a  refusal.  With  the  barbarity  na- 
tural to  a  savage,  he  seized  this  opportunity  of  taking  re- 
venge; and  having  run  to  attack  them,  he  was  readily  joined 
by  others.  They  knocked  down  Harper,  Bowel,  and  Bur- 
ham,  an  American  seaman  who  \vas  with  them,t  and  mur- 
dered them-  all  on  the  spot.  Gaulton  fled,  but  looking  back 
and  seeing  his  companions  fall,  to  whom  he  was  strongly  at- 
tached,  he  returned,   perhaps,   in  the  hope  of  saving  them, 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol-  i.  p.  290. 

t  Several  sailors  had  ianded  from  an  American  ship,  soon  after  the 
arrival  of  the  missionaries,  and  settled  on  the  island.  Miss.  Trans,  p. 
'359,  2G1. 

f 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society,  339 

and  immediately  shared  a  similar  fate.  After  murdering  the 
missionaries,  the  rullians  proceeded  to  plunder  their  habi- 
tation; and  though  many  articles  had  been  concealed  and 
buried  by  them,  yet  they  searched  and  found  them  all.* 

The  news  of  this  terrible  catastrophe  could  not  fail  to  im- 
press the  surviving  missionaries  with  the  deepest  sorrow,  as 
well  as  excite  in  their  minds  the  most  painful  apprehensions 
respecting  their  own  safety.  Next  day  being  the  Sabbath, 
they  endeavoured  to  spend  it  among  the  rocks  in  such  re- 
ligious exercises  as  were  suitable  to  the  nature  of  that  sacred 
day,  and  to  the  melancholy  circumstances  in  which  they 
were  placed.  In  the  afternoon,  however,  they  were  alarmed 
by  the  sight  of  a  man  armed  with  a  club  and  spear,  who 
bolted  up  close  by  them.  He  at  first  balanced  the  spear  in 
his  hand,  and  seemed  ready  to  throw  it  at  them;  but  on  ob- 
serving their  number,  he  appeared  confused,  and  at  a  loss 
what  to  do.  The  missionaries  having  immediately  address^ 
ed  him,  he  pretended  that  he  was  sent  by  Maffee,  one  of  the 
chiefs,  to  seek  for  them,  chiding  them,  at  the  same  time,  in 
a  friendly  manner,  for  remaining  in  such  a  place  to  perish 
with  hunger.  He  then  desired  them  to  wait  till  he  sought 
some  cloth  which  he  had  left  in  the  neighbouring  wood,  say- 
ing he  would  come  back  and  take  them  to  Mafiee.  He  ac- 
cordingly left  them  and  returned  in  a  few  minutes;  but  now 
he  assumed  a  very  different  carriage  from  what  he  manifest- 
ed at  first,  desired  them  again  to  stay;  and  then  left  them  a 
second  time.  As  his  behaviour  was  so  dark  and  mysterious, 
they  did  not  choose  to  wait  his  return,  but  immediately  left 
the  rocks  in  as  quiet  and  cautious  a  manner  as  possible,  being 
afraid  he  might  design  to  bring  a  party  of  the  natives  against 
them.  Observing  a  road  which  led  to  the  sea,  they  descend- 
ed by  it  and  proceeded  toward  the  beach.  They  had  not 
advanced  manj^  yards,  when  they  found  a  child,  apparendy 
about  eight  or  nine  years  of  age,  lying  dead  on  the  ground. 

•  Auth.  Xur.  p.  169. 


o40  Propagation  of  Christianity 

After  travelling  about  a  mile  on  the  way  to  Aheefo,  they  met 
with  a  small  company  of  the  natives,  consisting  of  ten  or 
twelve  persons,  one  of  whom  advised  them  to  go  with  them 
to  a  place  called  Faheflfa.  They  accordingly  vi^ent  with  them, 
and  having  arrived  in  that  quarter,  about  the  dusk  of  the 
evening,  were  kindly  entertained  by  the  people.* 

After  a  variety  of  other  adventures,  in  the  course  of  which 
the  missionaries  were  often  in  the  utmost  danger  of  their 
life,  Loogalalla,  the  traitor  triumphed  over  all  his  opposers; 
and  not  only  Tongataboo,  but  the  neighbouring  islands,  sub- 
mitted for  the  present  to  his  sway.  Bloody,  however,  as 
were  the  means  by  v;'hich  he  rose  to  sovereign  power,  he  ap- 
peared to  be  friendly  to  the  missionaries.  Previous  to  his 
last  landing,  he  had  made  it  a  part  of  his  general  orders  to 
his  army,  that  they  should  not  be  hurt;  and  as  soon  as  he 
came  on  shore,  he  sent  Veeson  with  a  party  to  search  for 
them,  in  order  to  secure  their  safety.  Having  now  called 
them  before  him,  he  treated  them  in  the  kindest  manner, 
gave  them  many  assurances  of  his  friendship,  and  presented 
them  with  a  large  bale  of  cloth,  and  two  different  kinds  of 
saws.  Vaarjee,  the  chief  with  whom  their  unfortunate  com- 
panions resided,  returned  them  several  articles  of  clothing 
which  had  belonged  to  them,  together,  with  a  pocket-book, 
containing  a  gold  ring,  a  breast  pin,  a  few  instruments,  and 
sundry  papers;  a  watch,  a  Bible,  and  a  small  compass;  the  first 
volume  of  Hervey's  Dialogues,  Crantz's  History  of  Green- 
land, some  other  books,  and  a  quantity  of  paper,  pens,  and 
ink.f 

Having  now  an  opportunity  of  visiting  Ardeo,  the  mis-- 
sionaries  were  eager  to  go  thither,  in  order  to  render  the  last 
offices  of  friendship  to  their  murdered  brethren,  whose  bo- 
dies were  still  lying  on  the  road,  exposed  to  the  insults  of 
all  who  passed  by.  On  their  arrival,  they  found  the  place 
a  perfect  desolation;  the  houses  either  burnt  or  lying  in  ruins; 
the  fences  all  torn  in  pieces,  and  the  fruits  mostly  destroyed. 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vo].  i.  p.  292.        f  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  294,  297,  300. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  341 

After  taking  a  short  view  of  the  premises,  they,  were  con- 
ducted to  die  places  where  the  bodies  of  their  murdered 
companions  lay.  This  was  a  still  more  heart-rending  sight. 
Bowel  and  Gaulton  lay  on  the  road,  near  each  other;  Harper 
in  the  neighbouring  field.  They  were  all,  however  so  much 
disfigured,  that  their  brethren  could  not  have  known  them, 
except  from  the  information  of  the  natives,  who  had  often 
seen  them  since  their  death.  Burham,  the  American  sea- 
man, lay  in  a  kind  of  ditch,  at  a  considerable  distance;  and 
as  his  body  was  in  such  a  state  that  it  could  not  be  moved 
without  falling  to  pieces,  the  missionaries  covered  it  with 
cardi  where  it  was.  Afterwards,  with  the  assistance  of  the 
natives,  they  dug  a  grave  large  enough  to  contain  their  three 
brethren:  and  having,  though  with  some  difficulty,  moved 
them  into  it,  buried  them  without  either  shroud  or  coffin. 
Vaarjee,  the  chief,  appeared  to  bewail  their  death,  in  the 
most  tender  and  affectionate  manner,  and  even  formed  the 
generous  design  of  removing  them  to  a  greater  distance 
from  the  road,  and  of  building  a  fiatooka,  or  monument,  over 
them,  as  soon  as  he  returned  to  Ardeo.* 

Having  thus  performed  the  last  offices  of  friendship  to 
their  unfortunate  companions,  the  missionaries  now  began 
to  resume  their  manual  labours  among  the  natives.  Several 
of  them  who  lived  with  a  chief  named  Fackafanooa,  having, 
though  with  much  difficulty,  procured  materials  for  a  pair 
of  bellows,  erected  a  forge  in  a  house  which  he  had  prepared 
for  that  purpose.  Here  they  soon  found  they  would  have 
plenty  of  work,  but  little  payment  for  it.  Almost  every 
person  about  the  place  had  something  or  other  to  do;  but 
with  the  most  unblushing  effrontery,  they  often  brought  them 
their  own  property  to  be  v\  rought  into  various  forms,  and  not 
half  so  much  stuff  for  payment  as  they  used  to  allow  for 
working  iron,  which  they  had  purchased  from  others  at  a 
very  great  expence.  In  this  practice  they  were  much  en- 
couraged by  Fackafanooa,  who  seemed  to  tliink  the  obliga- 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  291,  298 


342  Propagation  of  Christianity 

tions  of  the  missionaries  to  him  were  so  great,  they  could 
never  be  dischai-ged.  He,  indeed,  reaped  far  more  advan- 
tage from  their  labours  than  they  did  themselves;  for  as 
most  of  the  payments  consisted  of  ready  cooked  provisions, 
of  which  they  could  use  but  a  very  small  part,  his  family 
was  almost  entirely  supported  on  the  rest.  In  several  in- 
stances, however,  this  gave  rise  to  circumstances  of  an  un- 
pleasant nature.  The  missionaries  themselves  preserved  the 
command  of  their  temper,  notwithstanding  the  many  pro- 
vocations they  received;  but  Beak,  an  American  seaman, 
who  wrought  with  them,  did  not  maintain  the  same  degree 
of  equanimity.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  passionate  irri- 
table man,  and  often  got  into  quarrels  with  the  natives.  One 
day  when  he  had  fallen  into  a  dispute  with  Fackafanooa,  the 
chief  immediately  left  them;  but  he  returned  soon  after, 
with  upwards  of  fifty  unarmed  men,  and  desired  them  all  to 
come  out.  As  soon  as  they  had  complied  with  his  order, 
each  of  them  was  seized  by  two  or  three  of  the  natives,  and 
led  without  the  gate.  Here  they  found  ten  or  twelve  men 
armed  with  spears,  ready,  as  they  imagined,  to  put  them  all 
to  death.  The  chief,  however,  seemed  much  agitated;  and 
instead  of  murdering  them,  only  made  the  following  arrange- 
ment: Kelso  and  Buchanan  he  ordered  to  go  to  Aheefo, 
while  Beak  .and  Wilkinson  should  remain  with  him.  The 
people,  in  general,  on  this  occasion,  seemed  rather  to  sym- 
pathize with  them  than  insult  them:  Some,  indeed,  appeared 
to  rejoice  in  their  sufferings,  and  to  feel  a  savage  pleasure  in 
aggravating  their  distress.* 

Agreeably  to  this  arrangement,  Kelso  and  Buchanan  de- 
parted for  Aheefo,  and  on  their  arrival  they  found  their 
brethren  in  that  quarter  hard  at  work.  They  now  learned 
that  Fackafanooa  had  lately  received  an  order  to  put  them 
all  to  death,  as  their  enemies  represented  their  prayers  as 
having  a  malignant  influence  on  the  mind  of  Loogalalla,  and 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  30?,  "^O^.. 


hij  the  London  Missionary  Society.  343 

as  being  indirectly  the  cause  of  all  the  calamities  which  had 
lately  befallen  the  island.  The  prayers  of  the  missionaries, 
indeed,  had  long  been  a  source  of  jealousy  to  the  natives. 
Scarcely  had  they  landed  on  the  island,  when  they  were  re- 
presented as  the  cause  of  the  death  of  several  of  the  chiefs 
who  died  about  that  period;  and  on  every  fresh  calamity,  the 
charge  was  renewed  against  them.  The  practice,  hideed, 
was  now  so  obnoxious,  that  the  missionaries  at  Aheefo  were 
obliged  to  hold  their  morning  and  evening  worship  at  the 
forge,  where  only  they  could  have  it  without  molestation, 
because  there  it  was  unsuspected.* 

Soon  after  the  departure  of  his  two  brethren  to  Aheefo, 
Wilkinson  overheard  a  conversation  between  Fackafanooa 
and  some  of  the  people,  in  the  course  of  which,  the  mission- 
aries were  all  treated  with  much  disrespect;  but  as   no  mis- 
chief was  threatened  them,  he  took  little  notice  of  it  till  the 
following  evening,   when  he  heard  his  own  death  proposed 
by  a  number  of  the  natives,  to  Knight,  one  of  the  American 
seamen;  but  as  the  wary  sailor  expressed  his  apprehensions 
that  the  ship  would  soon  return,   it  was  then  proposed  to 
loomeeloomee  him,  a  cruel  punishment,  seldom  practised  ex- 
cept on  prisoners  of  war,  and  inflicted  by  means  of  a  broken 
cocoa-nut  shell,  jagged  for  the  purpose,   and  beat  into  the 
crown  of  the  head  M'ith  a  club.     To  this  proposal  the  vil- 
lain readily  assented,   but  wished  it  might  be  executed  in 
such  a  manner,  that  he  would  have  no  share  of  the  blame. 
The  people  accordingly  proceeded  to  make  preparations  for 
the  execution  of  their  barbarous  purpose;  and  as  Wilkinson 
overheard  the  conversation,   he  had  to  pass  the  night  in  the 
most  painful  apprehensions  of  being  dragged  out  in   the 
morning  to  receive  this  brutal  treatment.  He  escaped,  how- 
ever, at  that  time;  but  soon  after,  both  he  and  Beak  receiv- 
ed a  severe  cudgelling  from  some  of  Fackafanooa's  people. 
Nothing,   indeed,   could  exceed  the  baseness  of  that  chief 

*  Miss.  TraiiR.  vol.  i.  p.  2C^7,  305. 


344  Propagation  of  Christianity 

towards  them;  and  to  crown  his  other  acts  of  villainy,  he  at 
last  seized  the  little  property  which  they  had  acquired  by 
liard  labour,  consisting  of  about  four  hundred  yams,  ten  or 
a  dozen  of  fowls,  a  considerable  quantity  of  cloth,  a  dozen 
of  knives,  a  grinding  stone,  and  all  their  tools,  merely  be- 
cause they  refused  to  give  him  a  shark-hook  which  they  had 
made  for  another  person.* 

In  this  manner,  the  missionaries  had  passed  nearly  nine 
months  since  the  assassination  of  their  friend  the  Dugona. 
EXuring  the  war,  they  had  laboured  under  a  numerous  com- 
plication of  evils;  their  life  was  often  in  the  utmost  jeopardy, 
and  three  of  their  number  had  actually  fallen  a  sacrifice  to 
the  cruelty  of  the  natives.     Since  the  return  of  peace,  their 
condition  was  little  improved;  plots  were  often  on  foot  for 
their  destruction;   their  poverty   was  such,  that  they  were 
destitute  of  clothing,  and  almost  of  necessary  food;  and  they 
were  at  the  same  time  under  such   entire  subjection  to  the 
natives,  as  destroyed  all  prospect  of  usefulness  among  them. 
Besides,   they  received  the  most  positive  assurances  that 
Loogalalla,  notwithstanding  his  former  professions  of  friend- 
ship, had  determined  to  murder  some  of  them,  on  his  return 
to  the  island,  which  was  expected  in  less  than  a  month;  and 
it  was  evident,  that  should  any  of  them  survive  his  cruelty, 
they  might  expect  at  least  to  suffer  all  the  horrors  of  famine, 
as  the  whole  country  had  lately  been  laid  waste  by  a  storm. 
Under  these  discouraging  and  perplexing  circumstances, 
some  of  the  missionaries  had  entertained  serious  thoughts  of 
quitting  the  island  in  their  small  boat,  and  attempting  topsail 
to  New  South  Wales;  but  to  others  this  proposal  appeared 
perfectly    preposterous,   and  only  as  flying  from  death  on 
land,  to  inevitable  destruction  at  sea,  in  a  still  more  hideous 

form.f 

Such  was  the  situation  of  the  missionaries,  when  in  Janua- 
ry 1800,  they  one  evening  heard  the  report  of  two  guns  in 
the  bay;    but  as  it  was  too  late  to  ascertain  the  cause  of 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  305,  306,  508.  f  Ibid.  vol.  s.  p.  313. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  345 

this  unusual  noise,  they  passed  the  night  in  a  state  of  most 
anxious  suspence;  sometimes  hope,  sometimes  fear  prevail- 
ed. In  the  morning,  they  endeavoured  to  get  their  boat  to 
sea,  but  to  their  inexpressible  disappointment,  they  failed  in 
the  attempt,  as  the  tide  did  not  reach  her  by  forty  or  fifty 
yards.  In  the  evening,  however,  they  accomplished  their 
purpose,  and  after  sailing  a  considerable  way,  they  descried 
two  ships  in  the  roads;  but  as  the  wind  was  contrary,  it  was 
midnight  before  they  reached  them.  The  one  was  an  Eng- 
lish vessel,  the  Betsy,  bound  for  Port  Jackson;  the  other,  a 
Spanish  brig  which  she  had  captured.  Captain  Clark,  the 
commander,  received  the  missionaries  in  the  most  friendly 
manner;  and,  on  being  informed  of  their  distressing  situa- 
tion, kindly  offered  them  a  passage  to  New  South  Wales, 
assuring  them  that  his  cabin,  with  every  accommodation  it 
could  afford,  was  at  their  service.  This  offer  the  mission- 
aries accepted  with  thankfulness  and  joy.  Before  the  ship 
fmally  left  the  island,  one  or  two  of  the  chiefs,  and  some 
others  of  their  old  friends,  came  on  board,  and  took  a  most 
affectionate  leave  of  them.  The  sensations  of  the  mission- 
aries on  this  occasion  it  is  not  easy  to  describe.  The  con- 
sideration of  the  time,  the  labour  and  the  expence  which  had 
been  employed  on  this  undertaking,  all  of  which  were  now 
to  be  lost;  but  especially  the  thought  of  abandoning  a  coun- 
try containing  thousands  of  immortal  souls,  who  were  per- 
ishing in  ignorance  and  sin,  could  not  fail  to  excite  in  their 
minds  the  most  painful  feelings.  But  necessity  compelled 
them  to  depart.  To  remain  was  only  to  expose  themselves 
to  difficulties,  and  dangers,  and  death,  without  the  smallest 
prospect  of  success.  After  a  short  and  agreeable  voyage, 
they  arrived  in  safety  at  Port  Jackson;  and  as  his  majesty's 
ship  Reliance  was  daily  expected  to  sail  for  England,  Kelso, 
Wilkinson,  and  Buchanan  obtained  a  passage  in  her,  and 
returned  to  their  native  country  where  they  arrived  after  an 
absence  of  about  four  years.  Cooper  returned  to  England 
the  following  year:   while    Shelly   joined  the  missionaries 

VOL.   II:  3  X 


346  Propagation  of  Christianity 

in  Otaheite,  but  he  did  not  settle  permanently  on  that  isl- 
and.* 

Veeson,  the  apostate  missionary,  still  remained  in  Tonga- 
taboo,  and  therefore  before  we  close  this  article,  it  may  not 
be  improper  to  add  a  short  account  of  him.  After  taking 
home  his  wife,  he  obtained  a  small  piece  of  land,  of  about 
fifteen  acres,t  which  he  gradually  so  enlarged,  by  new  pur- 
chases, that  he  at  length  possessed  a  considerable  estate. 
With  the  assistance  of  the  natives  who  lived  upon  it,  and 
who  were  considered  as  his  subjects,  he  cultivated  and  im- 
proved his  farm  in  such  a  manner,  as  excited  the  admiration 
of  the  whole  island.^  His  intimacy  and  credit  with  the 
chiefs  daily  increased,  and  he  generally  made  one  of  their 
parties  both  of  business  and  pleasure.^  He  was  himself 
considered  as  a  chief,  and  like  the  others  he  increased  the 
number  of  his  wives.  T[  He  was  now,  however,  sick  of  sa- 
vage life,  by  the  horrors  he  had  witnessed,  and  the  dangers 
he  had  escaped  in  the  late  war,  and  having  missed  the  oppor- 
tunity of  leaving  the  island  in  the  same  ship  with  the  mis- 
sionaries, he  considered  it  as  a  just  punishment  of  his  dere- 
liction of  duty,  and  was  scarcely  able  to  bear  the  idea  of 
spending  the  remainder  of  his  days  among  so  ferocious  a  race. 
He  was  doomed,  however,  to  behold  new  horrors.  The  in- 
habitants of  Aheefo  having  rebelled  against  the  usurper,  the 
flames  of  war  were  again  kindled,  and  raged  with  no  less 
fierceness  than  before.  In  a  district  which  Loogalalla's  par- 
ty had  laid  waste,  he  beheld  human  bodies  placed  transverse, 
ly  upon  each  other,  and  piled  up  in  large  stacks,  as  a  trophy 
of  victory.  This,  however,  was  executed  in  the  style  of  or- 
dinary barbarism.  But  a  little  way  from  one  of  these  stacks^ 
he  came  upon  a  spectacle  which  almost  froze  his  blood.  It 
was  a  mother,  in  a  sitting  posture,  holding  an  infant  to  her 
breast,  as  in  the  act  of  sucking,  now  cold  and  stiff  with  death. 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  313,  317-  t  Auth.  Xat.  p.  156. 

^  Ibid.  p.  128.  130.         %  Ibid.  p.  139.         H  Ibid.  p.  131, 


hij  the  London  Missionary  Society.  347 

The  savages,  after  murdering  them,  had  left  the  dead  bodies 
to  stiffen  in  that  affecting  attitude.* 

At  length,  however,  in  August  1801,  Veeson  was  so  hap- 
py as  to  eflect  his  escape  from  this  land  of  savages.     Ton- 
gataboo,  which  before  the  war  was  beautiful  as  a  garden,  was 
now  waste  as  a  wilderness,  and  the   inhabitants  were  in   a 
state  of  absolute  starvation.!     No  chief  of  respectability  re- 
mained; all  were  either  killed,  or  had  lied  to  other  islands  for 
safety.     Loogalalla,  the  author  of  all  these  disasters,  was  the 
only  chief  of  consequence  who  had  weathered  the  storm,  and 
even  he  had  been  obliged  to  retire  to  the  Harby  islands,  from 
whence  he  made  frequent  depredations  on  Tongataboo.J 
Veeson  having  attached  himself  to  the  party  of  that  usurper, 
had,  of  course,  shared  in  his  fortunes.     About  this  period 
he  was  appointed  by  him  chief  of  one  of  the  Vavou  islands, 
and  was  sent  thither  with  a  number  of  men  under  him,  to 
bring  it  into  a  state  of  cultivation,  as  provisions  were  scarce 
at  Harby, §     This,  though  an  honourable,  was  to  him  a  dan- 
gerous post.     He  had  lately  deserted  the  brother  of  Looga- 
lalla, who  had  thrown  off  the  yoke  of  that  usurper   and  as- 
serted his  own  independence.     As  this  chief  resided  in  the 
Vavou  islands,  it  is  probable  Veeson  would  soon  have  fallen 
a  sacrifice  to  his  revenge,  had  he  entered  upon  his  govern- 
ment.H  Scarcely,  however,  had  he  reached  these  islands,  when 
he  learned  that  a  ship  from  England   had  been  there  three 
days.     This  intelligence  excited  the  utmost  agitation  in  his 
mind;  but  he  had  the   prudence  to  conceal  his  feelings  as 
much  as  possible,  and  appeared  to  take  little  or  no  notice  of 
the  information.     Various  plans  of  escape  now  rushed  into 
his  mind,  yet  how  to  execute  them  he  scarcely  knew.     He, 
at  length,  persuaded  some  of  the  natives  to  go  and  trade  with 
the  ship;  but  as  they  approached  her,  he  had  the  vexation 
to  see  her   under  weigh,  and   was  terribly  frightened  she 
would  sail  without  him.     As  the  wind,  however,  blew  only 

•  Aulh.  Nar.  p.  188.         f  Ibid,  p   191.    Evan.  Mag.  vol.  x.  p.  28.?. 
+  Auth,  Nar.  p.  189.        ^  Ibid,  p.  19".         ^  Ibid  p.  194. 


348  l^ropagation  of  Christianity 

a  light  breeze,  the  ship  took  some  time  in  getting  round, 
and  the  canoe  could  run  faster  than  she  was  able  to  do.  On 
drawing  near  her,  he  called  out,  "  How  do  you  do,  coun- 
trymen?" The  sailors,  however,  only  laughed  at  him,  as 
they  imagined  from  his  dress  and  tatoocd  skin,  that  he  was 
a  native  who  had  picked  up  some  English  phrases.  They, 
therefore,  held  on,  and  thus  Veeson  was  like  to  lose  forev- 
er this  opportunity  of  getting  out  of  the  hands  of  this  savage 
race.  He  now  attempted  to  call  out  who  he  was;  but  he 
had  been  so  long  unaccustomed  to  his  native  tongue,  that 
he  perpetually  mixed  with  it  the  language  of  the  islanders, 
and  by  this  means  rendered  all  he  said  so  strange  and  unin- 
telligible, as  to  increase  the  ridicule  and  incredulity  of  the 
sailors.  He  then  jumped  over  board,  knowing  he  could  ea- 
sily swim  to  the  vessel,  when  a  chief  who  was  near  him  said, 
"  Get  into  my  canoe,  I  will  take  you  to  the  ship."  Veeson 
accepted  of  this  offer,  but  no  sooner  had  he  entered  the  ca- 
noe, than  the  wretch  turned  with  him  towards  the  shore. 
His  situation  now  seemed  desperate.  He  cried  out  as  loud 
as  he  could,  in  his  broken  dialect,  and  lifted  up  his  eyes  to 
heaven,  as  if  in  utter  despair.* 

Fortunately  for  him,  his  cries  and  gestures  caught  the  at- 
tention of  the  captain,  who,  at  that  moment  came  on  deck. 
**  That,"  said  he,  "  must  certainly  be  an  European,"  and 
immediately  ordered  out  a  boat  for  him,  manned  with  eight 
persons.  Veeson  saw  the  boat  coming,  but  the  natives 
rowed  away  from  it  as  fast  as  possible,  tantalizing  and  jeer- 
ing him,  saying,  "  Such  a  chief  wants  to  see  you.  You 
must  visit  Loogalalla's  brother  before  you  leave  us."  A 
voung  man  at  the  head  of  the  boat  having  at  length  beck- 
oned to  him  to  plunge,  he  watched  his  opportunity,  dived 
into  the  sea,  in  a  direction  contrary  to  that  in  which  the  ca- 
noe was  sailing,,  and  kept  himself  under  the  water,  that  the 
savages  might  not  strike  him  with  their  paddles.  Mean- 
while his  countrymen  came  up  to  him,  and  pulled  him  into 

*  Auth.  Nar.  p.  195. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  349 

the  boat.  The  danger,  however,  was  not  yet  entirely  over. 
The  sailors  now  attempted  to  run  the  canoes  down,  but  as 
they  had  no  fire-arms,  and  the  savages  were  much  their  su- 
perior in  number,  Veeson  called  to  them  to  desist,  warning 
them  of  the  consequences.  However,  he  had  forgotton  his 
own  language  so  far,  that  he  spoke  in  that  of  the  island- 
ers, who  were  now  emboldened  by  what  he  said,  and  in- 
stead of  continuing  their  flight,  turned  about,  and  began  to 
pursue  the  boat.  Had  they  known  that  the  sailors  had  no 
fire-arms  with  them,  it  is  probable  they  would  have  over- 
taken and  murdered  them  all.* 

Having  at  length  reached  the  vessel,  Veeson  was  not  a 
little  astonished  to  find  it  was  a  missionary  ship;  not  indeed 
the  Duff",  in  which  he  had  originally  sailed  to  the  South  Sea 
Islands,  but  the  Royal  Admiral,  commanded  by  captain 
William  Wilson,  who  had  just  landed  a  new  body  of  mis- 
sionaries in  Otaheite,  and  was  now  returning  to  England.f 
During  the  voyage,  Veeson  was  in  a  wild  state  of  mind; 
sick  of  savage  life,  yet  too  long  habituated  to  its  privileges, 
to  brook  with  complacency  the  restraints  of  civilized  so- 
ciety. When  they  came  in  sight  of  the  uninhabited  island 
of  Tinian,  he  felt  a  wish  to  be  put  on  shore,  that  he  might 
end  his  days  in  the  solitude  of  a  hermit.|  Upon  his  arrival 
in  England,  he  had  an  insuperable  aversion  to  regular  la- 
bour and  a  settled  life.  After  some  time,  a  pious  female 
relation  persuadf^d  him  to  return  to  the  town  where  he  had 
received  his  first  serious  impressions,  in  the  hope  that  the 
society  of  his  old  friends  might,  through  the  divine  bles- 
sing, rekindle  in  his  breast  the  almost  extinguished  sense  of 
religion.  Yielding  to  her  remonstrances,  he  settled  in  the 
place,  resumed  his  former  occupations,  and  was  induced  by 
his  pious  acquaintances  to  attend  again  the  long  neglected 
means  of  grace.  §  Under  these,  we  are  informed,  he  was 
impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  evil  of  his  ways,  with  a  dread 

»  Aiith.  Xar.  f  Ibid.  p.  203. 

\  Ibid.  p.  208,  209.  §  Ibid.  p.  221 . 


350  Fropagation  of  Christianity 

of  futurity,  a  desire  of  pardon,  and  a  resoluiion  of  amend- 
ment. In  this  scene  of  retirement,  the  prodigal  began  to 
repent,  the  backslider  to  pray,  the  wanderer  to  return  to  the 
Redeemer's  fold,  from  which  he  had  strayed.  The  gloom 
of  despondency,  which  a  sense  of  guilt  had  spread  over  his 
mind,  was  at  length  dispelled  by  the  declarations  of  the 
gospel;  and  it  is  hoped  that  he  found  peace  of  conscience 
through  the  atonement  of  Christ  Jesus,  and  was  set  up  as  a 
monument  of  that  grace  which  he  had  neglected  to  proclaim 
to  the  islanders  of  the  South  Sea.* 


ARTICLE  IIL 

St.  Christina. t 

IN  April  1797,  captain  Wilson,  after  settling  the  mis- 
sionaries in  Otaheite  and  Tongataboo,  sailed  for  the  Mar- 
quesas islands,  with  the  view  of  landing  in  Santa  Christina, 
Mr.  John  Harris,  and  Mr.  William  Crook,  who  had  both 
made  choice  of  that  place  as  the  scene  of  their  future  la- 
bours. Hards,  however,  who  had  been  particularly  bent 
on  settling  in  this  quarter,  had  scarcely  landed  on  the  island, 
when  he  shrunk  from  the  undertaking;  and,  before  the  de- 
parture of  the  ship,  he  determined  to  return  to  Otaheite. 
Crook,  a  young  man  of  twenty-two,  was  not  so  easily  dis- 
heartened; and,  notwithstanding  the  loss  of  his  companion, 
he  resolved  to  remain  on  the  island,  desiring  only  such  in- 
struments of  husbandry,  and  other  articles,  as  might  facili- 
tate and  extend  his  usefulness  among  the  unenlightened  na- 
tives.    His  happiness,  he  observed,  would  no  doubt  have 

•  Auth.  Nar.  p.  222,  223. 

t  St.  Christina  Island  is  one  of  the  groupe  of  islands  called  the  Mar- 
quesas, and  is  in  lat.  9°  44'  S.  and  long.  139°  13'  W. 

It  is  9  miles  long,  and  about  21  ia  ciicuit. — Malham's  Gazetteer. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  ^5\ 

been  greatly  promoted  had  he  enjoyed  a  friendly  and  agree- 
able associate;  but  since  the  Lord  had  ordered  otherwise, 
he  thought  it  better  corresponded  with  his  character  and 
profession  to  resign  himself  to  his  fatherly  care,  and  to  trust 
in  his  promises,  than  to  abandon  a  situation  where  a  door  of 
usefulness  appeared  to  be  opened  to  him;  and  should  his 
blessed  Saviour  make  him  the  honoured  instrument  of  pre- 
paring the  way  for  some  of  his  more  able  servants,  he  should, 
at  least,  have  the  pleasure  of  reflecting  that  his  life  was  not 
spent  in  vain.* 

Bold  and  zealous,  however,  as  Mr.  Crook  was,  the  mis- 
sion to  the  Martjuesas  islands  came  to  a  termination  sooner 
than  even  that  to  Tongataboo.  During  the  first  six  months 
of  his  residence  on  Santa  Christina,  he  suffered  considerably 
from  hunger,  in  consequence  of  the  improvidence  of  the  na- 
tives; but  yet  he  was  kindly  treated  by  the  chiefs,  who  al- 
ways allowed  him  to  partake  of  their  own  scanty  morsel. — 
About  a  year  after  his  arrival,  a  ship  having  appeared  off 
the  island,  he  went  on  board  of  her  with  a  view  of  inquiring 
to  what  country  she  belonged,  and  of  writing  to  Europe  by 
her;  but  as  the  wind  blew  fresh  from  the  mountains,  the 
vessel  was  not  only  unable  to  work  her  way  into  the  har- 
bour, but  was  carried  to  the  leeward.  Being  thus  prevent- 
ed from  returningt  to  Santa  Christina,  Mr.  Crook  request- 
ed the  captain  to  carry  him  to  sir  Henry  Martyn*s,  an  island 
about  sixty  miles  to  the  north-west,  and,  in  compliance 
with  his  request,  the  captain  was  so  obliging  as  to  bear 
away  and  land  him  upon  it.J 

On  his  arrival  on  this  island,  the  natives  were  astonished 
to  find  a  White  man  who  could  speak  their  own  language,, 

♦  Miss.  Voyage,  p.  45,  8G,  112,  132,  137,  139,  141. 
\  Evan.  Mag.  vol.  vii.  p.  261. 

t  It  does  not  appear,  however,  tliat  Mr.  Crook  was  under  an  abso- 
lute necessity  of  k'aviii<r  Santa  Cliristina,  lor  some  of  the  natives  who 
accompanied  him  to  the  ship  returned  to  the  island. 

Evan.  Mag.  vol.  viii.  p.  10. 


352  Propagation  of  Christianity 

and,  till  he  dissuaded  them  from  the  extravagant  idea,  tl^y 
considered  him  as  a  god.  The  principal  chief  immediately 
adopted  him  as  his  Tayo,  and  supplied  his  wants  with  the 
greatest  liberality.  In  a  short  time  he  obtained  a  large 
piece  of  ground,  stocked  with  bread-fruit,  cocoa-nuts,  and 
tarro-roots,  which  he  inclosed  with  a  bamboo  fence,  and 
built  a  house  upon  it.* 

After  he  had  resided  for  several  months  on  this  island,  two 
ships,  the  Euphrates  and  Butterworth,  both  south  whalers, 
from  London,  put  in  for  refreshments,  to  whom  he  was  of 
considerable  service  as  interpreter,  as  well  as  in  procuring 
for  them  a  plentiful  supply  of  provisions.  Despairing  of 
seeing  the  Duff  on  this  island,  he  thought  he  should  most 
effectually  serve  the  cause  of  the  mission  by  returning  to 
England,  and  representing  to  the  society  the  state  of  the 
whole  group  of  the  Marquesas  islands,  together  with  the 
propriety  of  sending  more  missionaries,  who,  by  exhibiting 
a  form  of  Christian  economy  in  domestic  life,  might  induce 
the  natives  to  pay  greater  attention  to  their  instructions.  He 
accordingly  embarked  in  the  Butterworth,  and  sailed  for 
England,  where  he  arrived  in  May  1799.t  The  mission  to 
the  Marquesas  islands  was  never  renewed;  but  Mr.  Crook 
again  left  his  native  country  in  April  1803,  with  the  view 
of  joining  the  missionaries  in  Otaheite.  He  did  not,  how- 
ever, proceed  to  that  island,  but  with  his  wife  settled  in  some 
situation  at  Port  Jackson.^ 

Such  is  the  history  of  the  missionary  establishments  in 
the  islands  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  In  taking  a  view  of  them, 
it  is  impossible  not  to  be  struck  with  the  vast  disproportion 
between  the  splendid  hopes  that  were  originally  entertained 
of  them,  compared  with  the  final  melancholy  result.  We 
are  not,  however,  to  conclude,  that  the  undertaking  has  been 
of  no  service.  One  or  two  Otaheitan  youths,  who  were 
brought  to  England,  and  died  in  this  country,  afforded  some 

*  Evan.  Mag.  vol.  vii.  p.  261.     \  Ibid,  vol.  vii.  p.  261. 
k  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  iii,  p.  1. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  ^53 

hopes  that  they  departed  in  the  faith  of  Christ.*  It  is  like- 
wise said,  that  a  sailor  in  one  of  the  vessels  which  touched 
at  Otaheite  was  brought  under  serious  impressions  by  means 
of  the  missionaries,  and  that  he  was  afterwards  exceedingly 
useful  to  many  of  his  shipmates. f  To  this  we  have  now 
the  pleasure  of  adding  the  late  most  agreeable  intelligence 
from  Eimeo,  respecting  Pomare  and  others  of  the  natives. 
If  these  representations  should  prove  well  founded,  even  this 
slender  degree  of  success  will  be  an  ample  compensation  for 
all  the  labour  and  expence  which  have  attended  the  under- 
taking. Besides,  as  in  medicine  more  instruction  is  often 
derived  from  those  cases  in  which  all  the  art  of  the  phy- 
sician fails,  than  even  from  those  in  which  it  proves  success- 
ful; so  in  missions,  more  useful  lessons  may  sometimes  be 
drawn  for  the  conduct  of  other  undertakings  of  a  similar 
kind,  from  those  which  prove  abortive,  than  from  those 
which  are  crowned  with  success.  We  question,  indeed,  if 
in  the  whole  history  of  the  propagation  of  Christianity  in 
modern  ages,  a  mission  is  to  be  found  so  fruitful  in  import- 
ant and  interesting  lessons,  as  the  mission  to  the  South  Sea 
Islands.  We  shall  make  only  one  other  remark,  and  we 
think  it  is  an  observation  of  considerable  importance.  The 
mission  to  the  South  Sea  Islands,  though  it  has  been  attend- 
ed with  little  or  no  success  in  that  quarter  of  the  globe,  has 
yet  been  a  powerful  mean  of  promoting  the  interests  of 
Christianity  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  particularly  in  Pagan 
countries.  Elliot,  and  Mayhew,  and  Brainerd,  the  Danes,  the 
Moravians,  and  the  Baptists,  had  all  engaged  in  missionary 
undertakings,  and  most  of  them  with  considerable  appearan- 
ces of  success.  But  their  operations  never  awakened  the  Chris- 
tian world  from  the  lethargy  into  which  it  had  fallen.  Indi\'i- 
duals  were  interested  and  delighted  with  their  exertions;  but 
the  great  bo:*iy  of  professed   Christians  scarcely  ever  heard 

*  Periodical  Accounts  relative  to  the  Mis'sions  of  the  United  IJretliven,  vol.  iii. 
p.  193. 

\  Report  of  the  Miss.  Society,  1810,  ]).  1,5. 

VOL.  ir.  2  Y 


354  Propagation  of  Christianity 

either  of  them  or  their  labours.  It  was  not  till  the  Mission- 
ary Society  was  formed;— it  was  not  till  the  magnificent 
mission  to  the  South  Sea  Islands  was  undertaken,  the 
splendour  of  which  dazzled  the  eyes  of  mankind,  that  the 
Christian  world  was  aroused  from  its  slumbers.  Then  a  ge- 
neral concern  was  excited  throughout  the  whole  of  Christen- 
dom, for  the  conversion  of  the  Heathen.  Old  estal^lishments 
were  revived,  or  at  least  supported  with  more  vigour,  and 
prosecuted  with  fresh  zeal.  New  institutions  were  formed 
for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  at  home  and  abroad,  some 
of  which  have  already  been  crowned  with  extensive  success, 
while  others  promise  a  yet  more  abundant  harvest.  In  short, 
a  new  impulse  appeared  to  be  given  to  the  operations  of  the 
Christian  world;  and  this,  we  think,  may  be  traced  in  no  in- 
considerable degree,  to  the  splendour  and  magnificence  of  the 
mission  to  the  South  Sea  Islands. 


SECTION  11. 

South  Africa. 

IN  December  1798,  the  Rev.  John  T.  Vanderkemp, 
M.  D.  Mr.  J.  J.  Kicherer,  Mr.  William  Edwards,  and  Mr. 
James  Edmonds,  sailed  for  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  on  board 
the  Hillsborough,  a  government  transport  ship,  bound  to 
New  South  Wales  with  convicts.  As  the  missionaries  had 
thus  an  opportunity  of  labouring  for  the  good  of  souls  even 
during  the  voyage,  they  resolved  to  lose  no  time  in  making 
some  efforts  for  the  instruction  of  these  miserable  creatures. 
They  were  told,  indeed,  that  if  they  ventured  into  the  hold 
among  them,  the  convicts  would  certainly  throw  a  blanket 
over  them,  and  rob  them  of  whatever  they  had  in  their  pock- 
ets; but  notwithstanding  this  representation,  the  missionaries 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society,  35-5 

determined  to  make  the  attempt,  and,  happily,  they  were 
received  by  them  with  every  mark  of  respect,  and  listened 
to  with  the  greatest  attention.  By  the  kindness  and  affability 
of  their  manners,  they  in  a  few  days  so  conciliated  the  re- 
gard of  the  prisoners,  that  they  found  themselves  completely 
at  their  ease  among  them,  ventured  into  the  midst  of  them 
without  the  smallest  dread,  and  conversed  as  freely  with 
them,  as  if  they  had  been  their  most  intimate  friends  and 
acquaintance.  This  was  the  more  remarkable,  considering 
the  manner  in  which  others  were  handled  by  them.  One 
day,  before  they  sailed  from  Portsmouth,  several  naval  offi- 
cers Came  on  board  to  search  for  some  deserters,  who,  it 
was  supposed,  had  concealed  themselves  among  the  convicts; 
but  no  sooner  had  one  of  the  officers,  with  his  gang,  attempt- 
ed to  pass  the  entrance  of  the  orlop  deck,  than  the  prisoners 
seized  him,  beat  him  mOst  unmercifully,  and  wounded  him 
in  the  head  with  his  own  dagger.  In  the  course  of  the  scuf- 
fle, he  had  his  coat  torn,  and  lost  his  hat,  together  with  the 
sheath  of  his  dagger;  and  even  counted  himself  fortunate  in 
escaping  with  his  life.  Two  days  after,  a  cutter,  with  some 
officers  and  a  detachment  of  marines,  came  to  renew  the 
search;  but  the  convicts  threatening  to  murder  them  if  they 
entered  the  hold,  they  wisely  desisted  from  the  attempt. 
About  the  same  time,  the  prisoners  engaged  in  a  plot  to 
murder  the  officers  of  the  Hillsborough,  seize  the  vessel,  and 
carry  her  over  to  France;  and  though  the  conspiracy  was 
providentially  discovered  and  defeated,  yet  this  did  not  hin- 
der them,  about  ten  days  after,  from  entertaining  the  horrid 
design  of  sinking  the  vessel,  and  escaping  in  the  boats;  and 
with  this  view  many  of  thcm'had  even  found  means  to  cut 
offihcir  chains  and  their  hand-cuffs.* 

Such  was  the  description  of  men,  among  whom  the  mis- 
sionaries sought  to  labour;  while,  at  the  siuiie  time,  the  cir- 
cumstances of  their  situation  rendered  the  attempt  not  only 
disagreeable  but  dangerous.     About  two  hundred  and  forty 

•  Evan.  Mag-,  vol.  vli.  p.  337.        JMiss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  360. 


356  Propagation  of  Christianity 

of  these  miserable  creatures  were  chained  in  pairs,  hand  to 
hand,  or  leg  to  leg,  in  the  orlop  deck,  which  was  perfectly 
dark,  except  that  a  little  light  entered  at  the  hatchways.  At 
first,  the  darkness  of  the  place,  the  rattling  of  the  chains,  and 
the  dreadful  imprecations  of  the  prisoners,  suggested  ideas 
of  the  most  horrid  nattire,  and  combined  to  form  a  lively 
picture  of  the  infernal  regions.  Besides,  in  a  short  time,  a 
putrid  fever  broke  out  among  the  convicts,  and  carried  off 
no  fewer  than  thirty- four  of  them  during  the  voyage  to  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.  The  state  of  the  prison  was  now  loath- 
some beyond  description;  yet  in  this  place,  as  well  as  in  the 
hospital,  surrounded  with  infection,  disease,  and  death,  did 
the  missionaries  daily  labour  to  pluck  these  brands  from  ever- 
lasting burnings.  Nor  did  they  seem  to  labour  in  vain.  In 
a  short  time,  a  number  of  the  convicts  appeared  to  be  im- 
pressed with  convictions  of  sin,  and  with  concern  about  their 
souls.  Some  of  them  even  agreed  to  have  a  prayer  meeting 
among  themselves  three  times  a  week.  Not  long  before, 
this  place  was  such  a  sink  of  depravity  and  wretchedness, 
as  to  furnish  a  striking  emblem  of  hell;  now  it  seemed  a  lit- 
tle heaven.  They  who  once  could  scarcely  speak  but  to 
blaspheme,  had  learned  the  songs  of  Zion;  and  their  horrid 
imprecations  were  changed  into  the  language  of  humble 
praise.  There  even  seemed  reason  to  hope,  that  some  of 
those  who  died,  departed  in  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  were  ad- 
mitted into  "  the  general  assembly  and  church  of  the  first 
bom,"  to  unite  with  them  in  the  sacred  services  of  the  tem- 
ple of  God  on  high.* 

In  March  1799,  the  missionaries  arrived  at  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  and  met  with  a  very  kind  reception  from  gen- 
eral Dundas  the  lieutenant-governor  of  the  colony,  and  from 
many  other  persons  both  in  a  public  and  private  station. 
During  their  stay  at  Capetown,  they  laboured  with  unwea- 
ried diligence  and  zeal  in  promoting  the  interests  of  religion 
in  that  place.    Besides  preaching,  attending  prayer  meetings, 

*  Evan.  Mag.  vol.  vii.  p.  338.        Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  361. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  357 

&c.  they  prevailed  with  a  number  of  the  inhabitants  to  form 
an  institution  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel,  under  the 
name  of  "  The  South  African  Society,  for  promoting  the 
spread  of  Christ's  kingdom  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope."  It 
is  not  unworthy  of  notice,  that  a  letter  from  the  Missionary 
Society  in  London  on  this  subject,  was  the  first  religious 
publication  in  that  quarter  of  the  globe;  and  though  it  con- 
sisted only  of  five  pages,  every  copy  was  to  be  sold  at  two 
shillings  sterling.* 

The  whole  of  the  missionaries  were  originally  destined  for 
Caffraria;  but  after  their  arrival  at  the  Cape,  it  was  agreed 
that  Dr.  Vanderkemp  and  Mr.  Edmonds  only  should  pro- 
ceed to  that  country,  while  Mr.  Kicherer  and  Mr.  Edwards 
should  settle  among  the  Boschemen.  We  shall  now  pro- 
ceed to  detail  the  history  of  these  missions,  and  also  of  some 
others,  which  have  since  been  established  in  South  Africa. 


ARTICLE  L 

Bethelsdorp. 

IN  May  1799,  Dr.  Vanderkemp  and  his  associate  Mr. 
Edmonds,  left,  Capetown,  and  set  off  on  their  journey  for 
Caffraria,  the  intended  scene  of  their  future  labours.  On  the 
morning  of  their  departure,  their  lodgings  were  crowded 
with  friends  who  came  to  bid  them  farewell,  and  many  even 
of  the  slaves  brought  them  little  presents  of  fruit,  handker- 
chiefs, &c.  expressing  a  grateful  sense  of  their  disinterested 
labours  among  them.  Nothing,  indeed,  could  exceed  the 
kindness  and  attention  of  the  colonists  to  them,  in  the  course 
of  their  journey.      Every  where  they  were  welcomed  as 

*  Miss.  Ti'ans.  vol.  i.  p.  366. 


558  Propagation  of  Christianity 

angels,  and  heard  with  the  reverence  due  to  apostles.  The 
people  crowded  from  all  quarters  to  hear  them  preach;  for 
such  is  the  distance  of  many  of  the  colonists  from  a  place  of 
worship,  that  they  often  do  not  hear  a  sermon  for  a  year  to- 
gether, nay,  some  scarcely  during  their  whole  life.  The  in- 
habitants of  the  colony  had  been  summoned  by  government 
to  serve  them:  with  their  oxen,  and  to  afford  them  every  as- 
sistance in  their  power;  but  this  requisition  was  unnecessary, 
for  every  one  offered  his  cattle,  horses,  and  provisions,  with 
the  utmost  cheerfulness,  without  asking  payment  for  them. 
No  less  than  one  hundred  and  ninety-two  oxen,  seventy- se- 
ven horses,  and  twenty-two  Hottentots,  were  at  their  service 
in  the  course  of  their  journey  from  Capetown  to  Graaf 
Reinet,  besides  twenty-four  oxen  of  their  own,  of  which 
fourteen  were  offered  them  as  a  present.*! 

Their  journey  through  the  wilderness,  however,  was  tedi- 
ous, and  even  dangerous.  The  country  abounded  with 
lions,  tigers,  wolves,  and  other  beasts  of  prey;  and  though 
they  were  preserved  in  safety,  yet  often  they  could  not  sleep 
for  the  howling  of  these  ravenous  creatures.  The  wolves, 
indeed,  frequently  approached  their  huts  during  the  night, 
but  the  dogs  drove  them  away.  One  night,  a  lion  broke  in- 
to their  kraal,  and  killed  three  sheep  and  two  goats,  but  pro- 
videntially it  committed  no  farther  mischief.  As  it  was  now 
the  depth  of  winter  in  that  quarter  of  the  globe,  the  cold 
was  often  very  severe.  One  morning,  the  water  in  their 
calabashes  was  frozen,  the  ink  in  their  tent  was  converted 
into  a  lump  of  ice,  and  the  drops  of  water  spilt  on  the  mats 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  372,  3"4.    Evan.  Mag',  vol.  viii.  p,  74. 

t  The  kindness  of  the  colonists  to  Dr.  Vantlerkemp  and  his  compa- 
nion is  ceitainly  rather  singular,  and  must  be  attributed  chieily  to  the 
noveltj  of  missionaries  in  that  quarter  of  t!ie  country,  and  to  the  im- 
portant idea  which  these  people  had  of  their  undertaking.  The  Dutch 
peasantry  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  are  among  the  basest,  the  most 
cruel,  and  most  degraded  beings  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  the  de- 
termined enemies  of  the  instruction  of  the  Hottentots. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  ^^^ 

which  served  them  for  a  table  at  breakfast,  were  congealed 
even  in  the  sunshine.  On  approaching  the  boundaries  of 
the  colony,  they  found  the  contrary  in  a  state  of  complete 
anarchy,  owing  to  the  dissensions  which  subsisted  between 
certain  of  the  Dutch  boors  and  some  rebel  Caffres.  Seve- 
ral murders  had  already  been  committed  on  both  sides;  and 
it  ^\•as  said,  that  the  Caffres  had  united  with  the  Hottentots 
to  destroy  the  whole  of  the  colonists.  Strange  as  it  may 
seem,  one  of  the  boors,  named  Piet  Prinslo,  charged  Dr. 
Vanderkemp  with  all  these  disorders;  and  even  told  him  to 
his  face,  that  it  was  he  who  had  stirred  up  the  Caffres  to  kill 
and  plunder  the  colonists,  and  that  he  had  said  to  the  Hot- 
tentots, pointiiig  to  the  cattle,  "  These  you  have  a  right  to: 
Take  them  freely;  they  are  yours."  It  is  scarcely  necessa- 
ry to  say,  that  this  accusation  was  a  gross  falsehood-* 

Having  arrived  on  the  borders  of  Caffraria,  the  mission- 
aries sent  an  embassy  to  Geika,  the  king  of  that  part  of  the 
country,  and  shortly  after  they  received  a  very  friendly  an- 
swer from  him,  encouraging  them  to  come  and  settle  with 
him.  He  desired  them  to  make  all  haste;  and  as  a  token  of 
his  favour  and  protection,  sent  them  his  tobacco-box,  which 
would  be  universally  respected  by  his  people;  but  he  warn- 
ed them  at  the  same  time  against  certain  of  the  Caffres,  whom 
he  considered  as  rebels  against  him.  Indeed,  the  mission- 
aries, and  some  colonists  who  accompanied  them,  had  alrea- 
dy been  attacked  by  them,  and  lost  a  considerable  number 
of  their  cattle;  and  on  the  day  after  the  return  of  the  messen- 
gers, they  had  not  proceeded  above  three  hours  on  their 
journey,  when  a  great  multitude  of  the  rebels  appeared  up- 
on the  mountains  on  their  left  hand,  and  rushing  down  with 
a  horrid  clamour,  attempted  to  break  in  upon  their  wag- 
gons. A  battle  ensued;  and  alter  an  engagement  of  about 
an  hour,  the  Caffres  retreated,  but  carried  away  the  cattle  of 
the  colonists.! 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  376,  378,  383,  385. 

t  Evan.  Mag.  vol,  viii.  p.  76.     M;s?.  Traivs.  vol.  i.  p.  384,  386. 


3.60  Propagation  of  Christianity 

Not  discouraged  by  these  circumstances,  the  missionaries 
still  pursued  their  journey,  and  having  entered  CafFraria,  they 
at  length  arrived  at  the  place  of  Geika's  residence.  About 
a  hundred  Caffres  having  immediately  flocked  around  them, 
they  enquired  for  the  king;  but  nobody  made  any  reply. — 
After  they  had  waited,  however,  about  ten  minutes,  he  made 
his  appearance  in  a  majestic  solemn  attitude,  attended  on 
each  side  by  one  of  his  principal  men.  He  was  covered  with 
a  long  robe  of  panther's  skins,  and  had  a  diadem  of  copper 
and  another  of  beads  round  his  head;  his  cheeks  and  lips 
were  painted  red,  and  in  his  hand  he  held  an  iron  club.  He 
stopped  about  twenty  paces  from  them;  and  one  of  his  cap- 
tains signified  to  them,  that  this  was  the  king.  They  then 
stepped  forward  to  him,  and  he,  at  the  same  time,  marched 
toward  them.  He  reached  them  his  right  hand,  but  spoke 
not  a  word.  Behind  him  stood  his  captains  and  women, 
ranged  in  the  form  of  a  crescent;  and  at  some  distance,  the 
rest  of  the  people.  Dr.  Vanderkemp,  having  delivered  him 
his  tobacco-box,  which  they  had  filled  with  buttons,  enquir- 
ed whether  there  was  no  person  present  who  could  speak 
Dutch;  but  nobody  made  any  reply,  only  some  smiled.  In 
about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  however,  a  man  arrived  dressed 
in  the  European  fashion,  whose  name  was  Buys,  one  of  the 
colonists  who  had  taken  refuge  in  Caffraria,  and  who  now 
acted  as  interpreter.  The  king,  having  sat  down  on  an  ants' 
hill,  enquired  of  the  missionaries,  what  was  their  errand:  to 
which  Dr.  Vanderkemp  replied,  that  they  came  to  instruct 
him  and  his  people  in  matters  which  would  make  them  hap- 
py, both  in  this  world  and  the  world  to  come;  that  they  only 
asked  permission  to  settle  in  the  country,  the  privilege  of 
his  protection,  and  liberty  to  return  home  whenever  they 
pleased.  In  reply  to  this,  the  king  observed,  that  they  had 
come  at  a  very  unfavourable  period,  for  the  whole  country 
was  then  in  a  state  of  confusion,  though  he  designed  nothing 
but  peace,  and  had  no  concern  in  the  war  which  subsisted 
between  the  colonists  and  some  of  the  Caffi-es;  and  there- 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  361 

fore  advised  them  not  to  stay  with  him.  "  Your  people," 
said  he,  "  look,  on  me  as  a  great  man;  but  I  am  not  able  to 
entertain  you  as  you  ought  to  be  entertained:  You  look  for 
safety,  but  I  can  find  no  safety  for  myselfj  neither  can  I  pro- 
tect you,  for  1  cannot  protect  myself."  To  this  Dr.  Van- 
derkemp  answered,  that  they  were  onl}^  private  persons 
willing  to  provide  for  themselves;  that  they  did  not  imagine 
he  could  remove  the  common  calamities  of  war,  but  that 
they  would  endeavour  to  bear  them  with  patience;  and  that 
they  asked  no  other  protection  from  him  than  he  was  able 
to  afford  the  meanest  of  his  subjects.  The  king  repeated 
to  them,  however,  his  first  advice,  not  to  stay  in  the  coun- 
try.* 

Thus  the  prospect  of  establishing  a  mission  in  Caffraria, 
seemed,  even  at  first,  completely  over-clouded.  Two  days 
after  this  interview,  the  missionaries  learned  that  Piet  Prins- 
lo  had  sent  intelligence  to  the  king,  that  they  were  spies 
and  assassins,  and  that  they  had  enchanted  poisoned  wine 
with  them,  to  kill  him,  advising  him  to  keep  them  prison- 
ers, till  he  should  come  and  convict  them  of  this  crime, 
and  warning  him  not  to  taste  of  their  wine.  This  infor- 
mation naturally  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  mind  of 
Geika,  and  certainly  it  would  not  have  been  wonderful 
though  he  had  put  them  to  death,  without  further  delay. 
To  add  to  Dr.  Vanderkemp's  distress,  the  people  who 
were  with  him  attributed  tlie  whole  of  these  evils  to  him, 
as  if  he  had  been  the  instrument  of  bringing  them  into 
these  perils,  though  they  knew  that  he  had  often  warned 
them  of  such  things,  and  that  they  had  accompanied  him 
into  Caffrai'ia  of  their  own  accord.  "  As  for  myself,"  says 
he,  "I  knew  that  when  I  came  into  this  country,  I  entered 
it  having  the  sentence  of  death  in  myself,  that  I  should  not 
trust  in  myself,  but  in  the  living  God,  who  raiseth  the 
dead."! 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  394.  f  Ibkl,  vol.  i.  p.  397,  399. 

VOL.  II.  9/A 


362  Fropagathn  of  Christianity 

By  degrees,  these  unfavourable  impressions  appear  tc 
have  been  effaced  from  the  mind  of  the  king,  and  on  the 
representation  of  Buys  the  interpreter,  he  assigned  the  mis- 
sionaries some  land  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  Keiskam- 
ma,  with  liberty  to  remain  or  to  leave  the  coimtry  whenever 
they  pleased.*  The  place  allotted  to  them  was  a  beautiful 
field  of  grass,  in  the  middle  of  an  amphitheatre  of  high 
mountains,  inhabited  by  numbers  of  Caffres,  consisting  of 
different  kraals,  eleven  of  which  were  in  their  immediate  vi- 
cinity. Round  the  foot  of  the  mountains  ran  the  river  Gua- 
koeby,  which  afforded  them  most  excellent  water.  The 
ascent  of  the  mountains  was  covered  by  a  thick  forest,  con- 
taining trees  of  every  description.  Beyond  them  were  mea- 
dows of  vast  extent,  and  of  a  beautiful  verdure;  and  on  the 
summit  there  was  an  inaccessible  forest.f  Here  Dr.  Van- 
derkemp  immediately  began  to  clear  part  of  the  ground  for 
a  garden,  and,  with  the  assistance  of  Buys  and  his  people, 
he  erected  himself  a  house.  In  consequence  of  the  want  of 
salt,  he  set  off  on  horseback,  to  seek  for  a  convenient  place 
on  the  sea  shore  for  a  salt  pan,  and  having  found  a  suitable 
situation,  he  returned  on  the  evening  of  the  fourth  day;  but 
as  in  this  excursion  he  had  neither  hat,  nor  shoes,  nor  stock- 
ings, his  head  and  feet  were  severely  wounded  by  the  stones 
and  thorn  bushes.  Such  is  the  specimen  of  the  hardships 
which  this  excellent  man  cheerfully  endured,  that  he  might 
plant  the  gospel  in  the  wilds  of  Caffraria.J 

Hitherto  Dr.  Vanderkemp  had  enjoyed  the  society  of  a 
companion  who  possessed  similar  views  as  himself,  and 
shared  with  him  in  his  toils  and  labours;  but,  about  the  end 
of  the  year,  Mr.  Edmonds  thought  proper  to  leave  him. — 
This  young  man  had  originally  fixed  his  heart  on  a  mission 
to  Bengal;  but  was  persuaded  to  accompany  Dr.  Vander- 
kemp to  Caffraria.  On  arriving,  however,  in  this  country, 
he  formed  an  insuperable  aversion  to  the  Caffres,  and  his 
desire  to  settle  among  the  Hindoos  again  returned.     His 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  399.    j  Ibid,  vol,  i.  p.  404,  413.    +  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  408. 


hy  the  London  Missionary  Society.  363 

departure  was  a  very  distressing  circumstance  to  his  vene- 
rable colleague;  but  under  this,  as  well  as  under  his  other 
trials,  the  Lord  graciously  supported  him.* 

In  April  1800,  Dr.  Vanderkemp  received  orders  from 
Geika  to  leave  the  place  of  his  present  residence,  and  to  re- 
move to  the  river  Debe.  Though  the  king  had  promised 
him  protection,  and  even  refused  him  permission  to  leave  the 
country,  yet  jealousy  at  times  still  haunted  his  mind.  One 
day  he  came  to  the  place  where  the  doctor  was,  attended  by 
about  fifty  Caffres  and  Hottentots;  and  though  these  had  only 
a  single  kiri,  club,  or  assagay  in  their  hands,  yet  about  two 
Iiundred  more  lay  concealed  in  the  neighbouring  woods, 
completely  armed  with  shields  and  darts,  as  if  they  had  been 
prepared  for  an  engagement.  He  acknowledged  to  Buys, 
that  the  Hottentots  had  incited  him  to  treat  Dr.  Vanderkemp 
and  him  as  his  enemies,  having  told  him  that  they  both  had 
some  evil  design  against  him;  but  now  he  was  convinced^ 
by  their  appearance  that  the  charge  was  without  foundation. 
Not  long  after,  however,  a  new  plot  was  formed  for  murder- 
ing the  doctor,  as  a  conspirator  against  the  king  and  the  co- 
lonists; but  through  the  gracious  interposition  of  Providence, 
the  design  was  laid  aside. f 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  doctor  had  not  neglected  the  great 
object  of  his  settlement  in  this  wild  and  barbarous  country. 
He  had  early  opened  a  school,  in  which  he  instructed  a  num- 
ber of  young  people  in  the  Dutch  and  Caifre  languages,  and 
in  the  principles  of  the  Christian  religion.  He  also  preached 
as  often  as  he  had  opportunity,  to  a  few  who  understood  the 
Dutch  language.  By  means  of  his  labours,  several  Hotten- 
tot women  appeared  to  be  impressed  with  a  sense  of  divine 
things;  and,  after  some  months,  he  had  the  pleasure  of  bap- 
tizing one  of  them  named  Sarah,  together  with  her  three 
children,  in  the  river  Keiskamma;  but  immediately  after,  she 
and  two  or  three  others  of  whom  he  had  conceived  favoura- 
ble hopes,  were  removed  to  a  distant  part  of  the  countr>', 

♦  Miijs.  Trans,  vol.  1.  p.  511.        f  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  409,  416,  42U 


364  Propagation  of  Chnstianitij 

Anxious  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  these  young  converts^ 
and  afraid  of  the  storms  to  which  they  might  be  exposed 
from  satan  and  the  world,  he  resolved  to  follow  them,  that  he 
might  have  an  opportunity  of  watching  over  them,  and  at- 
tending to  the  care  of  their  souls. ^ 

In  January  1801,  Dr.  Vanderkemp  left  CafFraria  along 
with  a  number  of  the  colonists,  who  took  flight  out  of  this 
barbarous  country,  under  the  pretext  of  going  on  a  hunting 
expedition.  The  whole  company,  consisting  of  about  sixty 
persons,  proceeded  forward  in  three  waggons  and  a  cart,  hav- 
ing with  them  upwards  of  three  hundred  cattle,  besides  goats 
and  sheep,  and  twenty-five  horses. t  Soon  after  their  depar- 
ture, they  were  attacked  by  the  Boschemen,  but  they  drove 
them  back  with  a  few  gun-shots.  Their  situation,  howev- 
er, was  very  alarming,  as,  from  the  dread  of  being  discover- 
ed by  the  savages,  they  were  afraid  to  light  their  fires  in  the 
night,  and  so  were  exposed  to  the  lions  and  other  beasts  of 
prey,  which  roam  at  large  through  that  dreary  region.  Af- 
ter removing  from  place  to  place,  and  meeting  with  a  vari- 
ety of  other  difficulties  and  hardships.  Dr.  Vanderkemp 
came  to  Graaf  Reinet,  where,  to  his  inexpressible  joy,  he 
found  two  missionaries  who  had  come  to  his  assistance, 
namely,  Mr.  James  Read,  and  a  Dutchman  named  Vander- 
lingen.  Here  he  learned  that  his  stay  with  the  emigrated 
colonists  in  Caffi-aria  had  been  the  only  obstacle  which  had 
prevented  the  march  of  a  body  of  soldiers  to  seize  them,  as 
it  was  foreseen  that  this  violent  step  would  have  exposed 
him  to  considerable  danger.  J 

While  Dr.  Vanderkemp  was  in  CafFraria,  he  had  received 
letters  from  Graaf  Reinet,  requesting  him  to  come  and  take 
the  pastoral  charge  of  the  colonists  in  that  place.  This  in- 
vitation was  now  repeated,  but  he  still  declined  it,  as  his 
heart  was  set  on  the  conversion  of  the  Heathen.  It  \\'as 
agreed,  however,  that  Vanderlingen  should  accept  of  it; 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  411,  420,  423,  425,  430,      \  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  431,  469. 
%  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  479. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  365 

while  the  doctor  and  his  new  associate,  Mr,  Read,  should 
employ  themselves  in  instructing  the  Hottentots,  in  the  town 
and  neighbourhood.*!  This  last  measure,  it  might  have 
been  supposed,  could  have  given  no  offence  to  the  Christian 
inhabitants  of  the  country,  or  rather,  that  it  would  have  af- 
forded them  the  greatest  satisfoction;  but  scarcely  had  the 
missionaries  entered  on  their  labours,  when  a  number  of 
the  colonists  rose  in  arms,  threatened  to  attack  the  village, 
and  to  put  a  period  to  the  instruction  of  the  Hottentots. 
Having  approached  the  town  on  horse -back,  they  halted  at 
about  the  distance  of  a  gun-shot  from  it,  and  then  sent  a 
messenger  to  Mr.  Maynier  the  commissioner,  demanding, 
among  other  things,  that  the  Hottentots  should  no  longer  be 
admitted  into  the  church,  and  that  the  seats  should  be  \vash- 
cd,  the  pavement  broken  up,  and  the  pulpit  covered  with 
black  cloth,  as  a  sign  of  mourning  for  the  want  of  a  regular 
clergyman.  Anxious  to  prevent  the  effusion  of  human 
blood,  the  missionaries  intimated  to  Mr.  Maynier,  that  they 
would  willingly  leave  the  church,  and  instruct  the  Hottentots 
in  some  other  place.  But  as  the  insurgents  were  by  no 
means  satisiied  with  this  and  some  other  concessions  that 
were  made  to  them,  Mr.  Lyndon,  the  commander  of  the 
troops,  agreed,  next  morning,  to  allow  them  till  one  o'clock, 
to  settle  matters  in  a  friendly  manner,  but  threatened  that 
he  would  then  attack  them  without  delay,  if  they  still  per- 
sisted in  their  obstinacy.     The  line  of  i^attle  was  drawn  up 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  1.  p.  479. 

t  Mr.  Read  was  one  of  the  missionaries  who  was  captured  in  the 
Duft',  in  her  second  voyage  to  the  South  Sea  Islands.  Since  his  arrival 
in  Africa,  he  has  been  exceedingly  useful  among  the  Hottentots,  far, 
indeed,  beyond  his  own  expectations.  These  were  so  very  humble, 
tha*^  they  are  not  unworthy  of  observation.  In  a  letter  written  some 
years  after  this,  he  says,  "  When  I  devoted  myself  to  the  service  ot 
Christ,  under  the  patronage  of  the  Missionary  Society,  I  never  thought 
for  a  moment  of  being  made  an  instrument  for  the  conversion  of  one 
Heathen;  but  I  hoped  I  might  help  my  brethren  at  Otaheite  or  Tonga- 
taboo,  by  working  at  my  business;  but  the  Lord's  thoughts  were  not  asi 
mine,  and  to  him  be  all  the  glory." — Miss.  Trans,  vol.  iii.  p.  152. 


366  Propagation  of  Christianity 

in  the  form  of  a  crescent;  the  right  consisting  of  the  Hotten- 
tots,  leaned  against  the  village;  the  left,  formed  of  the  Pan- 
dours,  against  the  church;  the  English  dragoons  were  in  the 
centre,  and  four  field  pieces  were  placed  in  the  front,  on  the 
left.  Intimidated  by  these  warlike  preparations,  the  insur- 
gents sent  a  messenger,  requesting  three  days  for  delibera- 
tion; but  Mr.  Lyndon  returned  for  answer,  that  if  they  still 
persisted,  he  was  determined  to  attack  them  at  the  time  he 
had  previously  stipulated.  Upon  this  they  retreated,  and  in 
a  few  days  matters  appeared  to  be  amicably  settled  through 
the  mediation  of  Dr.  Vanderkemp.  Among  the  heads  of 
this  conspiracy  was  Vanderwalt,  a  man  who  had  shewn  the 
missionaries  much  kindness,  when  they  first  entered  the 
country.* 

Dr.  Vanderkemp  and  Mr.  Read,  having,  by  the  authority 
of  Mr.  Maynier  the  commissioner,  made  a  short  visit  to  Caf- 
fraria,  with  the  view  of  settling  the  differences  between  the 
Caffres  and  the  colonists,  the  rebels  circulated  a  paper,  in 
which  they  represented  them  as  having  been  endeavouring 
to  stir  up  Geika  against  them,  and  therefore  they  summoned 
their  countrymen  to  march  against  Graaf  Reinet.  Accor- 
dingly, it  was  not  long  before  they  again  rose  in  arms.  Early 
one  morning,  as  Dr.  Vanderkemp  was  going  to  the  water  to 
wash  some  linen,  he  observed  a  multitude  of  Hottentot  wo- 
men and  children  running  from  the  neighbouring  kraals,  to- 
wards the  barracks;  and  while  he  was  inquiring  the  reason  of 
their  flight,  he  discovered  that  the  rebels  had  completely 
surrounded  the  village,  and  were  advancing  from  every  quar- 
ter. At  the  same  moment  the  great  guns  of  the  barracks  and 
redoubt  were  fired  upon  them.  The  firing  continued  on 
both  sides,  from  six  till  half  past  nine,  without  interruption, 
and  with  some  intervals  till  sunset.  In  the  course  of  the 
day.  Dr.  Vanderkemp  had  twice  occasion  to  pass  by  the  re- 
bels, who  suffered  him  to  approach  pretty  near  them,  and 
tlien  fired  a  number  of  shots  at  him,  but  providentially  he 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  480,  48.3. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  367 

escaped  unhurt.  The  reports  which  were  circulated  con- 
cerning that  distinguished  man,  would  appear  truly  aston- 
ishing, did  we  not  know  that,  in  every  age,  the  most  devoted 
servants  of  God  have,  in  a  peculiar  manner,  been  the  object 
of  the  hatred  and  slander  of  the  world,  and  that  even  the 
friends  of  religion  have  too  often  united  with  the  ungodly  in 
calumniating  their  character,  and  checking  their  usefulness. 
Not  only  were  the  rebels  greatly  exasperated  against  Dr, 
Vanderkemp,  but  many  of  the  more  pious  people  in  the  co- 
lony represented  him  as  guilty  of  the  most  scandalous  enor- 
mities, and  as  entirely  given  over  to  the  devil.  These  re- 
ports, he  was  grieved  to  learn,  had  made  a  very  unfavoura- 
ble impression,  even  on  some  of  his  most  particular  friends; 
but  he  comforted  himself  with  these  words  of  our  Lord, 
"  Blessed  are  ye  when  men  shall  say  all  manner  of  evil 
against  you,  falsely  for  my  sake."* 

Having  lately  received  from  general  Dundas,  the  governor 
of  the  Cape,  an  offer  of  any  piece  of  ground  in  the  colony 
for  the  establishment  of  a  settlement,  the  missionaries  re- 
quested him  to  grant  them  some  land  near  Algoa  Bay,  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  fort  Frederick.  The  governor,  anxious 
to  promote  this  important  object,  wrote  Dr.  Vanderkemp 
to  proceed  with  all  possible  despatch  in  forming  such  an  in- 
stitution, and  desired  him  to  transmit  a  list  of  such  articles 
as  were  necessary  for  its  erection,  that  he  might  send  them 
from  Capetown  as  a  present  to  the  settlement.  He  evea 
anticipated  the  wishes  of  the  missionaries,  and  in  the  mean 
time  sent  off  a  ship  to  Algoa  Bay,  with  rice  and  other  arti- 
jclcs,  which  he  thought  they  would  need  immediately  upon 
their  arrival;  and  though  intelligence  soon  after  reached  the 
Cape,  that  by  the  peace  of  Amiens  the  colony  was  restored  to 
the  Dutch,  yet  this  made  no  alteration  in  the  governor's  con- 
duct towards  them,  f 

In  February  1802,  the  missionaries  left  Graaf  Reinet,  with 
a  considerable  number  of  Hottentots;  and  after  about  a  fort- 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  486,  492,  49",  495.        +  Ibid,  vol.  i.  495,  50n. 


368  Propagation  of  Christianity 

night's  journey,  they  arrived  at  Bota's  Place,  in  the  neigh= 
bourhood  of  Algoa  Bay,  the  new  scene  of  their  labours. 
Here  they  found  a  dwelling-house  of  three  rooms,  another 
house  suitable  for  a  church  and  school,  and  a  third  which 
they  converted  into  a  printing-office,  together  with  abun- 
dance of  grass,  timber,  and  limestone.  They  had  not,  how- 
ever, been  long  in  this  place,  when  they  experienced  the 
pernicious  effects  of  the  stagnant  water  in  their  neighbour- 
hood, many  of  them  being  seized  with  agues  and  diarrhoeas. 
Dr.  Vanderkemp  himself  was  attacked  by  both  these  disor- 
ders, and  afterwards  by  a  severe  rheumatism,  which  con- 
fined him  to  his  bed  for  upwards  of  twelve  months,  and  even 
then,  he  was  not  able  to  perform  any  public  duty.* 

No  sooner  was  the  missionary  institution  begun  at  Bota's 
Place,  than  it  became  the  object  of  the  hatred  and  opposi- 
tion of  the  neighbouring  colonists.  Dr.  Vanderkemp,  and 
his  associate  Mr.  Read,  were  described  by  them  as  men  who 
took  part  with  the  plundering  Calfres  and  Hottentots,  to  the 
imminent  danger  of  the  good  inhabitants  of  the  country,  and 
who  made  the  settlement  a  receptacle  for  robbers  and  mur- 
derers. The  truth  is,  the  missionaries  never  had  the  small- 
est  connection  with  any  of  the  plundering  parties;  but  they 
received  into  the  institution  such  as  separated  themselves 
from  them,  and  from  aversion  to  their  past  ways,  came  to 
hear  the  word  of  God,  and  to  live  in  tranquillity  and  peace. 
In  consequence,  however,  of  the  clamours  and  misrepresen- 
tations of  the  boors,  they  received  an  order  from  government, 
prohibiting  them  from  admitting  any  more  Hottentots  into 
the  settlement,  or  having  any  connection  with  the  tribes  on 
the  Sunday  river.  By  this  means,  they  were  compelled,  to 
their  inexpressible  grief,  to  refuse  many  of  these  poor  un- 
fortunate creatures,  principally  women  and  children,  who 
nevertheless  chose  rather  to  live  in  the  woods  among  the 
beasts,  than  return  to  their  more  savage  countrymen.'!* 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i,  p.  503;  vol.  ii.  p.  82,  161. 
f  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  84. 


hy  the  London  Missionary  Society.  369 

Before  the  colony  was  delivered  into  the  hands  of  the 
Dutch,  general  Dundas  unexpectedly  paid  the  missionaries 
a  visit  at  Algoa  Bay.     On  account  of  the  distracted  state  of 
ihe  country,  he  advised  them  cither  to  remove   with  the  in- 
stitution into  fort  Frederick,  and  for  this  purpose  offered 
them  all  the  remaining  buildings  in  that  place;  or  to  accom- 
pany him  to  Capetown,  and  to  defer  the  instruction  of  the 
Hottentots  in  this  quarter  till  peace  was  re-established.  The 
first  of  these  offers,  however,  they  declined,  for  several  rea- 
sons; but  they  reserved  the  right  of  availing  themselves  of 
it,  should  they  find  it  impossible  to  remain  at  Bota's  Place. 
As  to  the  other  proposal,  both  of  them  expressed  their  firm 
determination  not  to  leave  their  people,  whatever  might  be 
the  consequences.     Dr.  Vanderkemp  said,  that  even  if  he 
knew  it  would  cost  him  his  life,  yet  he  was  not  afraid  to  of- 
fer it  up  for  the  meanest  child  among  them.     Mr.  Read, 
with  no  less  resolution,  declared,  that  though  his  father  Dr. 
Vanderkemp  should  have  resolved  to  leave  the  place,  yet 
for  his  part,  he  was  determined  not  to  have  followed  his  ex- 
ample, but  to  have  ventured  his  life  along  with  their  people. 
The  governor,  finding  them  both  so  resolute,  desisted  from 
liis  persuasions;  and  as  a  farther  proof  of  his  approbation  of 
their  labours,  he  made  a  present  of  the  following  articles  to 
the  institution:    Six  thousand  pounds  of  rice,  six  casks  of 
salt  meat,  two  hundred  sheep,  fifty-nine  labouring  oxen, 
eleven  milch  cows,  ninety-six  horned  cattle,  three  waggons, 
one  fish  net,  one  corn  mill,  two  corn  sieves,  one  smith's  bel- 
lows, besides  various  agricultural  utensils.* 

Scarcely  had  the  English  left  the  country,  wnen  a  troop 
of  plundering  Hottentots  attacked  the  missionary  setdement 
in  the  middle  of  the  night,  and  carried  away  all  the  cattle. 
One  of  the  most  esteemed  of  the  Hottentots  belonging  to 
the  institution  approached  them,  and  spoke  in  a  friendl}- 
manner;  but  they  cried,  "  Look,  there  comes  a  pcace^mak^  ■ 


*   .Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  S.^. 
VOL.   II.  ^■<   -^ 


370  Propagation  of  Christianity 

er,  kill  him,  shoot  him;''  upon  which  they  wounded  him 
with  a  ball  in  the  leg.  The  missionaries  hoped  that  they 
would  have  been  content  with  their  cattle,  but  it  seemed  al- 
so to  be  their  intention  to  take  their  lives.  They  made  an 
assault  upon  their  dwellings,  and  for  this  purpose  they  em- 
ployed the  cattle  in  the  manner  of  the  Caffres.  Providen- 
tially, however,  Mr.  Read  had  laid  some  newly  sawn  planks 
between  the  house  of  the  missionaries  and  the  one  adjoining 
to  it.  The  cattle  which  the  enemy  drove  before  them,  be- 
ing afraid  of  these,  would  not  step  over  them,  but  turning 
aside,  left  the  robbers  completely  exposed.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  settlement,  compelled  by  self-defence,  fired  among 
them,  without  being  able  to  take  any  particular  aim,  on  ac- 
count of  the  darkness  of  the  night;  but  though  they  fired 
only  two  shots,  one  of  them  wounded  the  chief  of  the  party 
in  the  thigh,  and  the  large  artery  being  cut  through,  the 
effusion  of  blood  was  so  violent  that  he  died  in  a  few  min- 
utes. The  whole  troop  immediately  fled,  leaving  behind 
them  all  the  cattle,  except  eighteen  which  they  had  driven 
away  in  the  beginning  of  the  assault.  On  the  following 
night,  however,  the  settlement  was  again  visited  by  enemies, 
but  on  finding  that  the  inhabitants  had  removed  tlieir  cattle 
from  the  kraal  into  the  square  which  was  surrounded  by  the 
houses,  and  barricadoed  at  all  the  entrances,  they  left  them 
unmolested.  But  two  days  after,  they  returned  in  greater 
numbers,  and  attacked  the  settlement  in  the  middle  of  the 
day,  as  part  of  the  cattle  were  driving  to  the  pasture,  and 
they  stabbed  one  of  the  woodcutters  who  had  gone  into  the 
forest  to  pray.  The  inhabitants  now  attacked  them  in  great 
confusion,  but  with  terrible  fury,  leaving  the  place  with 
their  wives  and  children,  totally  undefended.  They  soon  put 
the  robbers  to  flight,  and  brought  the  cattle  back  again,  ex- 
cept eight  oxen,  which  were  either  killed  or  mortally  wound- 
ed. The  missionaries  had  always  taught  their  people  rather  to 
part  with  their  worldly  goods,  than  to  save  them  at  the  ex- 
pence  of  destroying  a  fellow  creature;  that  it  was  never  law- 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  371 

ful  to  kill  a  person,  unless  when  it  was  absolutely  necessary 
for  self-preservation,  or  in  defence  of  others.  But  this  doc- 
trine was  not  very  palatable  to  the  taste  of  a  Hottentot;  a  cir- 
cumstance which  occasioned  the  missionaries  much  regret, 
as  they  wished  to  win  their  enemies  by  mild  and  gentle  treat- 
ment, and  by  no  means  to  provoke  them  by  unnecessary 
opposition.  Besides,  they  foresaw  that  the  enemy  might 
soon  be  able  to  bring  forward  such  a  force  as  entirely  to  de- 
stroy the  settlement,  and  to  scatter  or  murder  the  inhabitants. 
For  this  reason,  they  immediately  removed  with  the  in- 
stitution to  fort  Frederick,  until  they  should  obtain  from 
government  a  place  where  they  might  live  in  tranquillity  and 
peace.* 

In  fort  Frederick,  the  situation  of  the  missionaries  was  not 
materially  improved.  Here  they  had  to  suffer  new  and 
severe  trials,  partly  from  the  opposition  of  the  boors,  in 
whose  hands  general  Dundas  had  left  the  fortress  until  the 
Dutch  should  arrive,  partly  from  the  wretched  state  of  their 
people  for  want  of  food,  clothes,  and  other  necessaries.  The 
boors  daily  uttered  the  most  abominable  slanders  against 
them;  and  had  it  been  in  their  power,  it  is  probable  they 
would  have  murdered  them  outright.  But  as  they  were 
either  afraid,  or  had  no  opportunity  to  attack  them,  they 
left  no  means  untried  to  seize  on  their  propert}^,  and  that  of 
the  Hottentots;  it  was  even  unsafe  for  the  children  to  be  out 
of  their  parent's  sight,  as  they  were  in  danger  of  being  stolen 
and  sent  to  different  parts  of  the  country.  Besides,  they 
endeavoured  to  blast  the  labours  of  the  missionaries,  by  cor- 
rupting the  people  both  in  principle  and  practice.  They 
attempted  to  make  them  disbelieve  the  word  of  God,  and  to 
despise  the  Saviour;  they  told  them  that  hell  vras  not  so  in- 
tolerably hot  as  it  was  said  to  be,  but  only  a  comfortable 
place,  well  adapted  for  such  as,  like  them,  smoked  tobacco; 
they  laboured  to  seduce  them  to  drunkenness,  uncleanness, 

*  jM'iSs.  Trails,  vol.  ii.  p.  2,7. 


372  Propagation  of  Christianity 

and  other  vices;  and  in  some  instances  they  were  too  success- 
ful. Here,  however,  they  did  not  even  stop.  Nothing  short 
of  embruing  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  these  poor  people, 
could  satiate  their  inveterate  malice.  A  Hottentot  and  a 
Bastard*  belonging  to  the  institution,  were  murdered  by 
them  in  a  most  horrid  manner,  besides  many  others  not  con- 
nected with  the  missionaries. t$ 

In  April  1803,  major  Von  Gelter,  or  Gitton,  arrived  as 
commander  of  the  fort  with  a  small  body  of  troops  under 
his  command;  and  immediately  upon  his  arrival,  the  tyranny 
of  the  boors  ceased.  Shortly  after,  governor  Jansens,  who 
was  travelling  through  the  country,  to  examine  into  the 
causes  of  the  disorders  which  every  where  prevailed,  arriv- 
ed in  this  quarter.  His  excellency's  mind  had  been  pre- 
possessed against  the  institution,  by  the  false  and  injurious 
representations  which  had  been  made  of  it  to  him,  by  the 
enemies  of  religion;  but  he  now  appeared  to  be  convinced 

f  Miss.  Trans,  vol  ii.  p.  158. 

*  The  term  Bastard  applied  to  a  Hottentot,  does  not  mean  that  lie  is 
illegitimate,  but  merely  that  he  is  of  a  mixed  breed. 

\  jSTany  and  most  shocking  instances  of  barbarity,  inflicted  upon  this 
unfortunate  race  of  people,  are  recorded  in  a  pamphlet  published  at  the 

Cape,  during-  the  last  peace,  b}"^  baron  de  P ,  private  secretary  to 

governor  Jansens.  Among  otiiers,  there  is  an  account  of  the  murder  of 
fifteen  innocent  Hottentots,  who,  having  come  to  a  farm  to  beg  some 
hemp  and  tobacco,  were  inhumanly  tortured,  to  extort  a  confession  that 
they  had  come  with  an  intention  to  plunder  the  colonists,  and  were  af- 
terwards shot.  The  following  example  of  brutality  is  so  shocking,  that 
we  shall  give  a  translation  of  the  statement:  "  As  soon  as  the  English 
had  abandoned  the  fort  at  Algoa  Bay,  a  boor  named  Ferraro,  of  a  Por- 
tuguese family,  made  himself  master  of  it,  and  kept  possession  of  it  till 
the  arrival  of  a  detachment  of  troops  which  government  sent  thither,  un- 
der the  command  of  major  Von  Gelter.  The  CaftVes,  fully  persuaded 
that  the  late  peace  had  put  an  end  to  all  differences  between  them,  sent 
to  the  new  commander  ot"  the  fort,  a  bullock  to  be  slain  as  a  tesi^of  re- 
conciliation and  friendship.  The  CaffVe  sent  on  this  occasion,  put  him- 
self u  ider  the  guidance  of  a  Hottentot;  and  Ferrara,  by  way  of  returning 
the  kind  intention,  laid  hold  of  \\\<i.  Caffre,  and  broiled  him  ali-ve.  As 
for  the  poor  Hottentot,  he  bound  him  to  a  tree,  cut  a  piece  ofjlesh  out  of 
/ii.'i  t/iig/i,  ?nade  him  eat  it  raiv,  and  then  released  him." — Edinburgh  En- 
ryclopeediay  article, Cape  of  Good  Hope,  vol.  v.  p.  399. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society »  373 

of  the  utility  of  the  undertaking;  and  he  assigned  the  mis- 
sionaries a  tract  of  land  for  a  settlement,  about  ten  miles  inr 
circumference,  and  seven  miles  to  the  northward  of  fort  Fre- 
derick. This  spot  seemed  in  some  respects  preferable  to 
Beta's  Place.  It  was  more  healthy,  afforded  better  pastu- 
rage for  sheep  and  cattle,  and  furnished  excellent  pot-clay 
and  lime;  but  it  was  ill  adapted  for  producing  corn;  it  yield- 
ed no  timber,  neither  was  there  such  abundance  of  fire-wood 
and  water  as  could  have  been  wished.* 

On  taking  possession  of  this  place,  Mr.  Read  formed  a 
square  for  a  village,  two  hundred  and  forty  paces  in  length, 
and  a  hundred  and  forty-four  in  breadth,  which  he  divided 
into  certain  portions  for  each  family.  Through  this  there  ran 
a  brook,  which  divided  it  into  two  parts;  the  one  was  called 
Jansens'  square,  the  other  Dundas'  square.  About  the  mid- 
dle of  Jansens'  square,  the  missionaries  built  a  temporary 
church,  and  at  each  end  of  it  a  house  for  their  own  accom- 
modation. They  also  proceeded  to  plough  the  ground,  for 
the  purpose  of  raising  corn,  and  to  lay  out  a  garden,  in  which, 
besides  various  necessary  kitchen  stuffs,  they  planted  fig, 
peach,  and  pomegranate  trees.  The  people  also  erected  huts 
for  themselves,  and  planted  extensive  gardens.  This  place 
they  called  Bethelsdorp,  or  the  village  of  Bethel. f 

Amidst  their  various  external  trials,  the  missionaries  had 
often  no  small  pleasure,  in  witnessing  the  fruit  of  their  la- 
bours among  the  Heathen.  Many  of  the  poor  Hottentots 
were  brought  under  deep  concern  for  their  souls,  and  ap- 
peared to  be  the  subjects  of  divine  grace.  Of  some  of  these 
it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  give  a  short  account.  Cu- 
pido,  previous  to  his  conversion,  was  perhaps  as  notorious  a 
sinner  as  ever  was  known.  He  was  infamous  for  s^vearing,  ly- 
ing, and  fighting,  but  especially  for  drunkenness,  which  often 
laid  hjmonasick  bed,  as  he  had  naturally  afeeble  constitution. 
On  these  occasions,  he  often  resolved  to  abandon  that  infatuat- 
ing vice,  and  to  lead  a  sober  life;  but  no  sooner  did  health 

•Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  IGl,  247.  f  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  163. 


374  Propagation  of  Christianity 

return,  than  he  was  again  led  captive  by  it.  Sometimes, 
however,  he  was  afraid  of  the  anger  of  God,  and  being  appre- 
hensive that  this  wickedness  would  at  length  prove  the  ruin 
of  his  soul,  he  inquired  of  all  he  met  with,  by  what  means 
he  might  be  delivered  from  the  snare  of  drunkenness,  im- 
agining, tliat  after  he  had  abandoned  that,  it  would  be  an 
easy  matter  to  forsake  his  other  sins.  Some  advised  him  to 
apply  to  tlie  witches  or  wizzards;  but  these  proved  misera- 
ble comforters,  for  they  told  him,  that  his  life  was  not  worth 
a  farthing.  Others  prescribed  various  kinds  ^f  medicines 
to  him,  but  though  he  eagerly  took  them,  they  also  proved 
of  no  avail.  He  was  at  length  providentially  led  to  Graaf 
Reinet,  where  he  heard  Vanderlingen  declare,  in  a  sermon, 
that  Christ  Jesus  was  able  to  save  the  guilty  from  their  sins. 
On  hearing  these  glad  tidings,  he  said  to  himself,  "  That  is 
what  I  want;  that  is  what  I  want."  His  convictions  of  sin 
were  afterwards  greatly  increased,  by  means  of  a  discourse  of 
Dr.  Vanderkemp's.  All  his  evil  deeds  seemed  now  to  rise 
up  in  array  before  him;  every  word  of  the  sermon,  he  thought, 
was  directed  to  him.  At  first,  indeed,  this  only  excited  in 
his  breast  a  violent  animosity  against  an  old  woman  with 
whom  he  had  lived,  and  by  whom,  he  imagined,  his  char- 
acter had  been  made  known  to  the  landrost's  wife,  and 
through  means  of  her  to  the  missionaries.  This  apprehen- 
sion, however,  was  not  of  long  duration,  for  as  he  continued 
to  attend  on  the  means  of  grace,  the  secrets  of  his  heart  were 
still  further  manifested,  and  he  was,  at  length,  obliged  to  ex- 
claim, "  This  is  not  of  men,  but,  of  God!"  He  now  be^ 
came  earnest  in  seeking  after  an  interest  in  Christ,  and 
was  exceedingly  zealous  in  promoting  the  salvation  of  others. 
It  was  often  no  small  pleasure  to  the  missionaries,  to  hear 
him  recommend  Christ  Jesus,  as  the  only  saviour  from  sin, 
one  who  could  destroy  it,  both  root  and  branch,  as  he  could 
testify  from  his  own  experience.* 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vpl.  ii.  p    166, 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  375 

Samson,  another  of  the  converts,  seemed  to  be,  in  some 
degree,  prepared  to  receive  the  gospel,  as  soon  as  it  was 
made  known  to  him.  For  several  years,  it  is  said,  he  had 
feh  much  anxiety  on  the  subject  of  religion,  wishing  to 
know.  Whether  there  was  a  God;  what  he  was;  and  v/hat 
he  required  of  his  creatures.  To  this  knowledge,  however, 
he  could  not  attain,  for  there  was  no  one  who  could  or  would 
shew  him  the  way  to  heaven.  From  the  time  that  the  Uni- 
ted Brethren  setded  at  Bavian's  Kloof,  he  was  exceedingly 
anxious  to  get  out  of  service,  in  order  to  go  to  them,  but 
he  could  never  obtain  his  liberty.  During  the  commotions 
of  the  district  of  Graaf  Reinet,  and  while  the  boors  were 
flying  from  their  habitations,  Samson  was  falsely  accused 
of  having  made  known  to  the  English  where  they  intended 
to  go.  He  was  immediately  bound  in  chains,  with  the  view 
of  being  put  to  death  next  morning;  but  during  the  night, 
he  broke  loose  from  his  fetters,  and  fled  to  Graaf  Reinet, 
which  was  at  that  time  an  asylum  for  hundreds  of  poor 
Hottentots,  who  were  obliged  to  fly  from  their  barbarous 
masters.  Having  arrived  at  this  place,  he  found  himself,  to 
his  great  joy,  in  possession  of  those  means  of  instruction  for 
which  he  had  been  longing  for  several  years;  and  he  resol- 
ved never  to  leave  them,  till  he  had  learned  what  was  neces- 
sary to  his  eternal  happiness.  He  now  attended  on  the  word 
with  the  utmost  diligence;  and  having  a  good  memory,  he 
made  great  proficiency  in  Christian  knowledge.  By  de- 
grees, he  began  to  see  his  lost  state  without  Christ,  and  af- 
ter some  months,  he  was  baptized  by  Dr.  Vandcrkemp,  sit- 
ting in  his  sick-bed.  Samson  now  became  very  bold  in  the 
cause  of  Christ,  warning  and  admonishing  sinners,  of  every 
description,  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come.  Whether  they 
were  persons  of  superior  or  inferior  rank,  he  was  not  asha- 
med to  avow  his  faith  before  them;  nor  did  he  fail  to  tell  the 
colonists  of  their  neglect  in  keeping  him  and  ills  countrymen 
ignorant  of  the  truths  of  religion. * 

♦  Miss.  Trms.  vol,  ii.  p.  168; 


376,  Propagation  of  Christianity 

The  history  of  Kruisman,  another  of  the  converts,  is  like- 
wise not  unworthy  of  notice.  He  lived  with  a  farmer  in  the 
neighbourhood,  who  treated  him  with  much  cruelty,  on  ac- 
count of  the  wish  he  expressed,  to  come  to  the  institution 
and  be  instructed  in  the  word  of  God,  He  had  for  several 
years  been  concerned  about  his  soul,  but  could  get  nobody 
to  tell  him  who  or  what  God  was.  He  conceived,  however, 
that  what  he  saw  and  heard  daily,  such  as  murder,  drunken- 
ness, adultery,  and  swearing,  could  not  be  pleasing  to  him. 
His  master's  treatment  of  him  became  so  intolerable,  that  he 
was  compelled  to  complain  to  a  magistrate,  who  released 
him  from  his  oppressor,  and  gave  him  liberty  to  attend  on 
the  instructions  of  the  missionaries.  It  was  striking  to  see 
with  what  attention  he  listened  to  the  truths  of  religion.  He 
\vas  now  convinced  that  the  evils  which  he  had  seen  in  others 
were  no  less  chargeable  on  himself,  and  he  began  almost 
to  despair  that  such  a  monster  of  iniquity  could  be  saved; 
but  he  at  length  obtained,  in  Christ  Jesus,  that  peace  and 
rest,  which  nothing  else  in  the  world  could  afford  him.* 
Some  of  the  other  converts,  as  is  too  often  the  case,  appear- 
ed afterwards  to  lose  much  of  their  first  love,  though  it  was 
still  hoped  they  were  the  monuments  of  divine  grace;  but 
this  was  not  the  case  with  Kruisman,  who  appears  uniform- 
ly to  have  maintained  a  conduct  consistent  with  his  Christian 
profession.  Besides  learning  to  read  and  write,  he  appear- 
ed to  make  no  inconsiderable  progress  in  the  knowledge 
and  practice  of  true  religion.  "  Free  grace,  free  grace, 
alone,"  he  often  cried,  "  can  bring  me  to  heaven!*'t 

In  April  1805,  Dr.  Vanderkemp  and  Mr.  Read,  received 
an  order  from  governor  Jansens  to  repair  to  Capetown  with- 
out delay,  in  consequence  of  the  complaints  and  accusations 
which  the  boors  had  brought  against  them.  When  this  was 
made  known  to  their  poor  people,  it  produced  a  general  sen- 
sation of  sorrow  among  them.  Providentially,  however, 
Mr.  Ulbright,  a  new  missionary,  together  vv^ith  one  or  two 

*  Keport.  of  the  Missionary  Society  1S06,  p.  9.        f  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  iii,  p.  155. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  377 

other  assistants,  had  lately  come  to  Bethel sclorp,  so  that  they 
would  not  be  left  destitute  of  the  means  of  instruction.  Be- 
fore leaving  the  town,  Dr.  Vanderkemp  addressed  them 
from  that  affecting  declaration  of  David,  when  he  was  driven 
from  Jerusalem  by  the  unnatural  rebellion  of  his  son  Absa- 
lom: "  If  I  shall  find  favour  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  he  will 
bring  me  again  and  shew  me  both  it  and  his  holy  habitation: 
But  if  he  say,  I  have  no  delight  in  thee,  behold  here  am  I, 
let  him  do  to  me  as  secmeth  good  unto  him."  Having  ta- 
ken a  tender  and  affectionate  farewell  of  their  beloved  peo- 
ple, the  Doctor  and  his  associate  Mr.  Read,  proceeded  on 
their  journey,  and  after  travelling  about  five  weeks,  arrived 
in  safety  at  Capetown.*  Here  they  were  detained  for  sev- 
eral months,  and  had  no  other  prospect  before  them  but  of 
being  soon  obliged  to  leave  the  country.  Their  frequent 
applications  to  the  governor  for  liberty  to  return  to  their 
congregation  at  Bethelsdorp,  to  pursue  their  missionary  la- 
bours in  some  other  part  of  the  colony,  or  to  undertake  an 
exploratory  excursion  into  the  countries  beyond  its  limits, 
were  all  rejected,  in  consequence  of  the  violent  outcries  of 
the  boors  against  them,  who  represented  them  as  English- 
men, and  in  the  English  interest,  and  therefore  of  dangerous 
influence  among  the  inhabitants. f  Such  was  the  situation 
of  the  missionaries,  when  the  God  whom  they  served,  and 
in  whose  cause  they  suffered,  appeared  for  their  deliverance, 
by  one  of  those  singular  interpositions  of  His  Providence,  by 
which  He  has  often  rescued  His  people  when  their  distress 
has  reached  its  greatest  extremity. 

In  January  1806,  a  British  fleet,  consisting  of  near  sixty 
sail  of  vessels  appeared  off  the  coast,  and  the  troops  on  board 
having  landed,  under  the  command  of  sir  David  Baird,  the 
Cape  fell  into  their  hands  after  a  short  resistance.  Immedi- 
ately after,  general  Baird  sent  for  Dr.  Vanderkemp,  and  trea- 
ted him  with  uncommon  and  unexpected  politeness.  Ho 
even  took  him  along  with  him  to  see  the  Hottentot  prisoners 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vel.  iii.  p.  2.         f  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  4. 
VOL-.  II-.  3  B 


378  Propagcdion  of  Ch'istianity 

of  war,  and  was  so  obliging  as  to  refer  it  to  him,  whether  or 
not  they  should  be  set  at  liberty.*  He  soon  after  gave  him 
permission  to  return  to  Betbelsdorp,  and  for  this  purpose 
granted  him  one  of  the  waggons  which  had  been  taken  from 
the  late  Dutch  governor,  while  Mr.  Read,  by  his  particular 
request,  went  by  sea.  On  their  arrival  at  that  place,  they 
were  happy  to  find,  that,  during  their  absence,  the  congrega- 
tion had  enjoyed  much  internal  prosperity.  While  they 
were  at  the  Cape,  indeed,  Mrs.  Smith,  an  aged  but  very 
zealous  woman  paid  them  a  visit,  and  declared  her  resolution 
to  go  to  Bethelsdorp,  and  to  spend  the  rest  of  her  days  in 
instructing  the  Heathen.  Having  returned  home,  she  sold 
her  house  and  the  remainder  of  her  goods,  and  notwithstand- 
ing her  age  and  bodily  weakness,  she  set  off  for  that  place, 
undismayed  by  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of  the  undertak- 
ing.! Upon  her  arrival,  she  opened  a  school  for  teaching 
the  Hottentot  girls  to  knit  stockings,  night- caps,  &cc.  Be- 
sides conversing  privately  with  such  of  tlie  females  as  seem- 
ed to  be  under  concern  about  their  souls,  she  held  a  weekly 
meeting  with  the  baptized  women,  in  which  she  instructed 
them  in  the  principles  of  religion.  She  was  universally  be- 
loved by  the  people,  and  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  the 
members,  was  chosen  a  deaconess  of  the  church.  J 

Not  long  after  his  return  to  Bethelsdorp,  Dr.  Vanderkemp 
made  a  narrow  escape  with  his  life.  One  day  as  some 
workmen  were  raising  a  heavy  frame  of  wood  upon  a  house 
which  he  was  building,  it  suddenly  slipt  off  from  the  post  on 
which  it  rested,  struck  his  head,  and  wounded  him  in  seve- 
ral places.  The  blood  ran  from  both  his  nose  and  his  mouth, 
and  a  tooth  was  forced  out  of  his  jaw;  but  happily  his  life 
was  preserved.  §  Little  more  than  a  twelvemonth  after,  he 
made  another  and  still  more  remarkable  escape.  Two  ot 
the  oxen  had  entangled  their  horns  in  those  of  each  other, 
and  as  they  were  bent  in  the  Caffre  manner,  it  was  impossi- 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  iii.  p.  6.  f  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  3. 

±  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  8.  §  Ibid,  vol.  iii.  p.  147. 


bij   the  London  Missionary  Society.       ♦         379 

ble  to  separate  them,  without  binding  the  animals  and  throw- 
ing them  upon  the  ground.  As  soon  however,  as  they  were 
loosed,  an  operation  in  which  the  Doctor  assisted,  they  sprung 
on  ttieir  feet,  burning  with  rage.  The  people  fled,  but  one 
of  the  infuriated  animals  overtook  the  venerable  old  man, 
caught  him  upon  its  horns,  and  threw  him  on  the  ground 
to  the  distance  of  several  paces.  In  the  fall,  his  leg  was  gra- 
zed, and  his  hip  writhed  in  such  a  manner,  that  he  could 
not  for  some  days  lift  it  up;  but  yet  he  suftcred  no  other 
material  injury.  It  is  likewise  not  unworthy  of  notice,  that 
about  this  period,  they  had  been  without  bread  for  a  long 
time,  nor  did  they  expect  to  get  any  for  three  or  four  months 
to  come;  a  privation  greater,  perhaps,  than  it  is  possible 
for  persons  to  conceive  who  have  never  known  it  by  expe- 
rience.* 

But  circumstances  of  this  description  were  not  their  only, 
nor  even  their  heaviest  trials.  The  school,  which  for  a  con- 
siderable time  had  been  well  attended  by  the  children,  be- 
gan to  be  neglected  by  them:  and  many  of  the  young  peo*- 
pie  in  the  settlement  broke  through  all  restraint.  Both 
these  evils,  were  owing,  in  no  small  degree,  to  the  careless- 
ness of  the  parents.  The  indifference  of  a  Hottentot  to  the 
welfare  of  his  offspring  is  astonishing,  and  even  almost  in- 
human. He  has  little,  indeed,  to  stimulate  him  to  exertion 
in  their  behalf.  A  slave  and  a  drudge  himself  to  some  ty- 
rant of  a  boor,  he  has  no  ambition,  and  scarcely  any  hope, 
of  his  son  rising  to  a  higher  station  in  life.  But  ihis  disor- 
derly conduct  and  disregard  of  instruction  were  by  no  meanjs 
confined  to  the  youth.  The  thirst  for  knowledge  had  ma- 
terially abated  among  the  people  in  general,  while,  at  the 
same  time,  the  ignorance  of  many  of  them  was  altogether 
shameful.  There  was  also  a  visible  decay  of  spiritual  life 
among  numbers  of  those,  whom  the  missionaries  yet  hoped 
were  plants,  which  their  Heavenly  Father  had  planted,  and 
which  should  never  be  rooted  up  by  all  the  storms  which 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  iii.p.  156,  199. 


580  Propagation  of  Christiajiity 

earth  or  hell  might  raise  against  them.  Some  by  their  in^ 
attention  and  stupidity;  some  by  their  worldly  mindedness; 
some  by  more  open  transgressions,  often  occasioned  them 
the  most  pungent  grief.  Several  even  of  those  whom  they 
considered  as  the  most  eminent  for  piety,  sunk  most  deeply 
in  the  mire.  It  may  be  remarked,  however,  that  in  many 
cases,  their  disorderly  conduct  was  to  be  ascribed,  not  so 
much  to  the  want  of  knowledge  or  of  grace,  as  to  the  ab- 
sence of  those  salutary  restraints  which  arise  from  a  regard 
to  the  respect  and  esteem  of  their  fellow  men,  and  which 
are  so  powerful  a  restriction  on  the  iDchaviour  of  civilized 
nations.* 

While  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  Hottentots  were  in  this 
manner  in  a  declining  state,  their  temporal  affairs  were  in  a 
more  flourishing  condition.  The  inhabitants  of  Bethelsdorp 
increased  so  much,  that  it  was  necessary  to  surround  the 
square  which  formed  the  town  with  a  second,  and  that  with 
a  third.  In  1808,  the  nevv^  members  of  the  institution,  in- 
cluding both  those  who  came  to  reside  in  the  settlement,  and 
such  as  were  born  in  the  place,  amounted  to  three  hundred 
and  eleven;  but  it  is  necessary  to  remark,  that  numbers  also 
went  away,  as  might  naturally  be  expected,  among  a  bar- 
barous people,  unaccustomed  to  settled  habits  of  life.  In 
April  1809,  the  inhabitants  of  Bethelsdorp,  as  appears  from 
the  following  Table,  amounted  to  no  fewer  than  nine  hun- 
dred and  seventy-nine;  but  of  these,  many,  from  a  variety  of 
causes,  were  then  absent,  though  none  were  included  in  the 
enumeration  who  had  been  away  more  than  a  year: 

Present.       Absent.      Total. 
Men       -     -     .     .         146  113  259 

Women      ...         211  121  332 

Children      ...         282  106  388 


639  340  979t 

Miss.  Trar.s.  vol.  ill.  p.  147,  200^.  289.  -f  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  294,  295. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society,  381 

Since  that  period,  the  population  of  Bethelsdorp  has  still 
further  increased;*  and,  according  to  the  latest  accounts, 
it  consisted  of  no  fewer  than  1150  persons.  It  must  not, 
however,  be  supposed,  that  all  these  are  considered  by  the 
missionaries  as  Christian  converts.  Most  of  them  are  mere- 
ly inhabitants  of  the  place,  and,  of  course,  enjoy  the  means 
of  instruction.  We  have  not  of  late  had  any  particular  ac- 
count of  the  numbers  of  the  baptized;  but  we  do  not  appre- 
hend, that  since  the  commencement  of  the  mission,  they  will 
much  exceed  two  hundred,  and  even  of  these  about  one 
half  are  children.! 

As  they  have  increased  so  much  in  number,  they  have 
likewise  made  great  improvement  in  industry.     The  knitt- 
ing school  for  the  girls  had  succeeded  beyond  expectation, 
and  more  than  supported  itself.     The  demand  for  stockings 
and  night- caps  from  fort  Frederick  was  greater  than  they 
were  able  to  supply,  especially  for  short  stockings  or  socks, 
to  which  the  "military  officers  were  very  partial.     Mats  and 
Caflfre  baskets  were  also  made  in  the  settlement  in  great  quan- 
tities, and  sold  at  the  fort  and  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 
A  considerable  traffic  was  carried  on  in  salt,  which  the  peo- 
ple sold  to  the  colonists,   or  bartered  for  clothing,   wheat, 
flour,  and  other  necessary  articles.     It  is  not  unworthy  of 
notice,  that  the  farmers  now  brought  their  goods  to  Bethels- 
dorp in  waggons,  as  to  a  market-place.     Soap  boiling,  cut- 
ting and  sawing  of  wood,  were  likewise  carried  on  to  a  con- 
siderable extent,  and  to  the  no  small  advantage  of  the  inha- 
bitants.    Mr.  Read  at  one  time  speaks  of  a  number  of  their 
people  having  gone  to  Graaf  Reinet,  with  six  thousand  feet 
of  boards  for  sale,  which  would  bring  them  about  200/.  a 
large  sum  certainly  to  be  gained  by  Hottentots  on  one  ad- 
venture.    Their  fields,  too,  were  covered  with  cattle,  sheep, 
and  goats;  and  such  was  the  abundance  of  milk  and  butter. 

•  Miss,  Trans,  vol.  iii.  p.  391,  403. 

t  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  161,  395,  403,    Report  Miss.  Soc.  1808,  p.  17.    Tl/nU  181:1. 
p.  29. 


382  Propagation  of  Christianity 

that  they  employed  the  latter  article  in  the  manufacture  of  soap. 
According  to  the  last  accounts  they  had  no  fewer  than  2000 
horned  cattle,  including  calves;  1200  sheep  and  goats;  174 
horses,  and  great  numbers  of  pigs  and  poultry;  together 
with  twenty  waggons,  besides  carts.  Notwithstanding  the 
very  unfavourable  nature  of  the  soil,  even  agriculture  has  be- 
gun to  flourish  among  them.  The  Hottentots  have  become 
diligent  in  cleaning  and  tilling  the  ground;  and  lately,  besides 
other  kinds  of  grain  and  vegetables,  they  sowed,  in  one  year, 
upwards  of  a  hundred  sacks  of  wheat,  which  they  expected 
would  yield  fifteen  hundred.  Even  more  than  this  would 
have  been  sown,  but  some  had  no  plough,  and  others  no 
seed.  We  are  informed,  that  among  the  inhabitants  of  Be- 
thelsdorp,  there  are  no  fewer  than  eighteen  trades,  namely, 
smiths,  carpenters,  waggon-makers,  basket- makers,  blanket- 
makers,  pipe-makers,  sawyers,  turners,  hewers  of  wood,  car- 
riers, soap-boilers,  mat-manufacturers,  stocking-makers,  tai- 
lors, brick -makers,  thatchers,  coopers,  and  lime-burners; 
likewise,  an  auctioneer  and  a  miller.*  These  facts  sufS- 
ciently  demonstrate,  how  little  truth  there  is  in  the  represen- 
tations of  certain  writers,  who  tell  us,  that  the  missionaries 
at  Bethelsdorp  have  totally  neglected  the  temporal  improve- 
ment of  their  converts.  To  this  we  may  add,  that  as  there 
were  several  of  the  baptized,  besides  others  among  the  peo- 
ple, who  understood  no  language  but  the  Hottentot,  they,  at 
an  early  period,  drew  up  and  printed  in  that  uncouth  dialect, 
the  outlines  of  the  Christian  religion  in  the  form  of  a  cate- 
chism, under  the  title  of  "  Tzitzika  Thuickwedi  meka 
Khwekhwenama,"  that  is,  "  Principles  of  the  Word  of  God 
for  the  Hottentot  Nation."!  This  probably  was  the  first, 
and  perhaps  the  only  work  that  was  ever  printed  in  the  Hot- 
tentot language. 

In  March   1811,  Dr.  Vanderkemp  and  Mr.  Read  set  off 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  iii.  p.  293,  301,   391,  404,  406.     Keport  IMiss.  Soc.  1813,  p. 
29.    Evan.  Mag.  vol.  xxi.  p.  434. 

t  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ij.  p.  ^39. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society,  383 

from  Bethelsdorp  for  Capetown,  having  been  summoned  to 
appear  before  an  extraordinary  commission,  which  had  been 
appointed  by  his  excellency  lord  Caledon,  the  governor,  to 
afford  their  evidence  in  the  investigation  of  numerous  charges 
of  cruelty  and  murder,  committed  by  the  boors  in  the  vici- 
nity of  Bethelsdorp,  of  which  the  missionaries  had  repeated- 
ly made  the  most  urgent  complaints.  They  communicated 
to  the  commissioners  more  than  a  hundred  cases  of  Hotten- 
tots, said  to  have  been  murdered,  chiefly  since  their  institu- 
tion was  settled  in  that  place.  In  consequence  of  this  infor- 
mation, his  excellency  directed,  that  the  commissioners 
should  personally  visit  the  several  districts  in  which  these 
enormities  were  alledged  to  have  been  committed,  tofexamine 
more  particularly  into  them,  and,  on  conviction,  to  punish 
the  guilty.*  Happy  shall  we  be,  should  this  inquiry  check 
in  future  the  cruelties  of  the  boors,  and  promote  the  security 
of  the  poor  oppressed  Hottentots. 

Numerous  as  had  been  Dr.  Vanderkemp's  trials  in  the 
establishment  of  the  mission  at  Bethelsdorp,  yet  as  he 
thought  it  had  now  attained  such  a  degree  of  stability,  as 
that  it  might  safely  be  committed  to  the  care  of  a  younger 
missionary,  he  resolved,  notwithstanding  his  advanced  age, 
and  his '  many  infirmities,  to  undertake  a  new  mission  to 
some  other  part  of  the  world,  where  the  gospel  of  Christ  was 
yet  unknown;  and  he  at  length  fixed  on  the  island  of  Mada- 
gascar as  the  scene  of  his  future  labours. f  That  populous 
and  long- neglected  country  had  for  many  years  engaged  his 
particular  attention;  and  he  longed  to  communicate  to  its  be- 
nighted inhabitants  the  blessings  of  the  gospel  of  peace.  His 
health,  indeed,  had  been  visibly  on  the  decline  for  some 
time,  and  his  friends  contemplated,  with  painful  apprehen- 
sions, his  projected  mission  to  Madagascar.  In  consequence 
of  successive  strokes  of  apoplexy,  he  could  scarcely  use  his 
right  leg,  and  often  expected,  when  he  left   home,  that  he 

•  Report  Miss.  Soc.  1812,  p.  3.    Mi^js.  Tnns.  vol.  iii.  p.  205,  396,  398. 
t  Miss,  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  369;  vol.  ii.  p.  245;  vol.  Hi.  p.  5. 


384  Fropagation  of  Christianity 

would  not  again  return.  Nothing,  however,  could  shake  his 
resolution  of  proceeding  to  Madagascar,  until  a  gentleman 
called  one  day,  and  made  some  observations  on  the  impro- 
priety of  either  Mr.  Read  or  him  leaving  the  colony  at  that 
juncture;  that  having  laid  before  government  numerous  de- 
tails of  complaints,  in  which  many  persons  were  involved, 
their  leaving  the  country  before  the  business  was  investigat- 
ed, would  seem  as  if  they  were  afraid  to  abide  the  inquiry. 
This  consideration  appeared  to  wound  his  generous  heart; 
and  from  that  time  he  was  in  great  perplexity  with  regard  to 
the  path  of  duty.  Sometimes  he  thought  of  going  to  Eng- 
land on  account  of  the  poor  suffering  Hottentots,  and  also 
to  secure  for  his  children  a  good  education;  but  he  appears 
to  have  relinquished  this  idea,  and  his  mind  still  hankered 
after  Madagascar.  His  colleague  Mr.  Read,  had  never 
known  liim  in  such  a  state  of  uncertainty  and  distress;  and 
it  is  probable,  that  this  tended  not  a  little  to  hasten  his  dis- 
solution. =>^ 

One  morning,  after  he  had  expounded  a  chapter  of  the 
Bible,  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  some  pious  friends,  he 
found  himself  xtry  un\vell,  and  said  to  the  venerable  Mrs. 
Smith,  who  had  now  returned  to  Capetown,  "  My  dear  friend, 
I  feel  very  weak,  and  could  wish  that  I  might  have  time  to 
settle  my  own  affairs."  Such,  however,  was  not  the  will  of 
God.  He  \\  as  seized  with  a  cold  shivering,  and  other  symp- 
toms of  fever,  and  was  under  the  necessity  of  retiring  to  bed. 
From  that  bed  he  rose  no  more.  His  disorder  rapidly  in- 
creased, notwithstanding  the  use  of  suitable  remedies.  A 
lethargic  heaviness  suppressed  his  mental  powers.  He  was 
almost  incapable  of  speaking;  and  it  was  with  extreme  diffi- 
culty, he  could  be  prevailed  on  to  answer  the  simplest  ques- 
tion. A  day  or  two  before  his  departure,  Mrs.  Smith  asked 
him,  What  was  the  state  of  his  mind.  To  this  inquiry,  he, 
with  a  smile  on  his  countenance,  gave  this  short  but  em- 
l^hatic  reply,  "  All  is  well.'*    At  length,  after  a  short  illness 

*  Report  Miss.  Soc.  1'812   {p.  5.     Miss.  7'rans.  vol.  j.ii.  p.  405. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  385 

■A  about  eight  days,  he  breathed  his  last  on  the  Lord's  day 
morning,  December  15th,  1811,  in  the  sixty-fourth  year 
of  his  age,  and  the  thirteenth  of  his  labours,  as  a  missionary 
among  the  Heathen.*  Thus  died  the  apostolic  Dr.  Van- 
derkemp,  a  man  who,  for  natural  talents,  lor  extensive  learn- 
ing, for  elevated  piety,  for  ardent  zeal,  for  disinterested  be- 
nevolence, for  unshaken  perseverance,  for  unfeigned  humili- 
ty, for  primitive  simplicity,  was  certainly  one  of  the  most 
extraordinary  characters  which  either  this  or  any  other  age 
has  produced.  Holding,  as  he  does,  so  distinguished  a 
place  as  a  man,  as  a  Christian,  and  as  a  missionary,  it  may 
not  be  uninteresting  to  add  a  little  of  his  early  history, 
together  with  a  few  circumstances  illustrative  of  his  general 
character. 

Dr.  Vanderkemp  was  born  at  Rotterdam  in  1748,  his  fa- 
ther being  a  pious  and  worthy  minister  of  the  Dutch  church 
in  that  city.  At  an  eaily  period  of  life,  he  entered  the  uni- 
versity of  Leyden,  and  so  astonishing  was  his  progress  in 
literature,  that  it  is  said,  those  who  were  best  acquainted  with 
him,  considered  him  as  a  most  extraordinary  man,  and  as 
promising  to  be  one  of  the  most  distinguished  characters  of 
the  age.  On  leaving  that  scat  of  learning,  he  entered  the 
army,  in  which  he  rose  to  be  a  captain  of  horse,  and  lieuten- 
ant of  the  dragoon  guards.  Unhappy,  however,  he  had  im- 
bibed the  principles  of  infidelity,  and,  casting  oif  the  re- 
straints of  a  religious  education,  he  became,  to  use  his  own 
\Vords,  "  the  slave  of  vice  and  ungodliness."  Such  was  the 
impression  which  this  made  on  the  mind  of  his  excellent  fa- 
ther, that  it  is  said  to  have  accelerated  his  death.  Marriage, 
however,  produced  some  external  reformation,  and  put  a 
period  to  sifch  irregularities  as  were  of  a  scandalous  nature. 
After  spending  sixteen  years  in  the  army,  he  quitted  that 
service,  in  which,  had  he  continued,  it  is  said,  he  had  the 
prospect  of  rising  to  the  first  rank,  being  no  less  distinguish- 
ed for  militar)^  courage,  than  for  extensive  learning.     Hav- 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  iii.  p.  409. 
VOL.  ir.  3C 


386  Propagation  of  Christianity 

ing  determined  to  enter  on  the  practice  of  medicine,  a  pro- 
fession for  which  his  quahfications  were  already  considera- 
ble, he,  with  the  view  of  further  improvement,  came  to  the 
university  of  Edinburgh,  where,  for  two  years,  he  pursued 
his  studies  with  unremitting  assiduity.  During  his  resi- 
dence in  that  city,  he  published  a  Latin  work  on  Cosmology, 
entitled  Parmenides;  and  having  obtained  the  degree  of  dog- 
tor  in  medicine,  he  returned  to  his  native  country,  and  be- 
gan to  practise  as  a  physician  at  Middleburg,  in  the  island 
of  Zealand.  A  singularity  in  the  management  of  his  busi- 
ness is  not  unworthy  of  notice.  He  would  never  admit  on 
his  list  of  patients  more  than  twelve  at  one  time,  in  order 
that  he  might  be  able  to  study  the  case  of  each  more  care- 
fully, and  to  devote  his  whole  attention  to  their  recovery. — 
After  practising  physic  for  some  time  at  this  place,  he  retir- 
ed to  Dort,  intending  to  spend  the  rest  of  his  days  in  literary 
pursuits,  and  in  rural  amusements.* 

During  this  period.  Dr.  Vanderkemp  continued  to  main- 
tain the  principles  of  infidelity.  His  views,  however,  were 
singular,  perhaps  peculiar  to  himself.  "  Christianity,"  says 
he,  "appeared  to  me  inconsistent  with  reason;  the  Bible  a 
collection  of  incoherent  opinions,  tales,  and  prejudices. — • 
With  regard  to  the  character  of  Christ,  I  looked  upon  him  as 
a  man  of  sense  and  learning;  but  who,  by  his  opposition  to 
the  ecclesiastical  and  political  maxims  of  the  Jews,  became 
the  object  of  their  hatred,  and  fell  a  martyr  to  his  own  sys- 
tem. I  often  celebrated  the  memorial  of  his  death;  but  at 
length  reflecting,  that  he  called  him.self  the  Son  of  God,  and 
professed  to  perform  miracles,  he  lost  all  my  former  venera- 
tion.f 

I  then  prayed  that  God  would  prepare  me,  by  punishing 
my  sins,  for  virtue  and  happiness;  I  thanked  him  for  every 
misfortune;  but  I  soon  found,  that  though  often  severely  chas- 
tened, I  was  neither  wiser  nor  better.     I  therefore  prayed  to 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol..  i.  p.  349,  352..    MeiT.olr  of  Dr.  Vanderkemp,  p.  5. 
t  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  ?t55. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  387 

God,  that  he  would  shew  nie,  in  every  instance,  the  particu- 
lar crime  for  whicJi  he  corrected  me,  that  so  I  might  know 
and  avoid  it;  but  finding  this  in  vain,  I  was  apprehensive  I 
should  never  be  amended  by  means  of  punishment,  at  least 
in  the  present  life.    Still,  however,  I  hoped,  that  after  death, 
I  might  be  delivered  from  moral  evil,  by  more  severe  suf- 
ferings,  in  some  kind  of  purgatory;    but  reflecting  after- 
^vards  that  punishment  had  proved  totally  ineffectual  in  pro- 
ducing even  the  lowest  degree  of  virtue  in  my  breast,  I  was 
constrained  to  acknowledge,   that  my  principle,   however 
plausible  in  theory,   was  completely  refuted  by  experience. 
I  now  concluded,  that  to  discover  the  true  path  to  virtue 
and  happiness  was  entirely  beyond  the  reach  of  my  reason. 
I  confessed  my  impoitncp  nnd  ignorance  to  God,  acknow- 
ledged that  I  was  like  a  blind  man  who  had  lost  his  road, 
and  waited,  in  hope,   that  some  benevolent  person  would 
pass  by,  and  lead  him  in  the  right  path.     In  this  manner,  I 
waited  on  God,  in  the  hope  that  he  would  take  me  by  the 
hand,  and  guide  me  in  the  way  everlasting.     Still,  however, 
I  could  not  entirely  relinquish  my  favourite  idea,   of  being 
corrected  by  means  of  punishment;  and  I  continued  to  look 
on  the  divinity  and  atonement  of  Christ,    as  doctrines  at 
once  useless  and  blasphemous,  though  I  kept  this  opinion  to 
myself."* 

Such  was  the  state  of  Dr.  Vanderkemp's  mind,  when,  in 
June  1791,  while  he  was  taking  a  pleasure  sail  with  his  wife 
and  daughter,  a  water  spout  suddenly  overtook  them,  and 
upsetting  the  boat,  they  all  sunk  before  they  even  apprehend- 
ed any  danger.  Both  his  beloved  relations  were  drowned, 
and  he  himself  was  carried  down  the  stream  about  a  mile, 
and  must  likewise  speedily  have  perished,  had  not  a  vessel 
lying  in  the  harbour  of  Dort,  been  rent  from  its  moorings  by 
the  storm,  and  driven  out  towards  him,  when  the  people  on 
board  observing  a  person  floating  on  the  side  of  the  wreck, 
rescued  him  from  a  watery  grave. f 

*  .Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  3J5.  f  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  356. 


388  Propagation  of  Christianity 

This  dreadful  event  Dr.  Vanderkemp  considered  as  the 
severest  punishment  that  could  have  beildlen  hiiri;  yet  next 
day  he  clearly  perceived  that  it  had  no  more  power  to  amend 
him,  than  all  his  former  trials;  and  hence  he  concluded,  that 
his  state  was  desperate,  and  that  he  was  abandoned  by  God 
as  incurable  by  correction.  On  the  following  Sabbath,  how- 
ever he  went  to  church.  The  Lord's  Supper  was  to  be  ad- 
ministered that  day,  and  though  it  was  utterly  inconsistent 
with  his  principles  to  join  in  commemorating  the  death  of 
one  whom  he  considered  as  an  impostor,  yet  being  asham- 
ed to  withdraw  from  the  table,  he  sat  down  among  the  com- 
municants; but  in  order  to  divert  his  thoughts  from  the  orr 
dmance,  he  indulged  in  some  such  meditation  as  this:  "  My 
God,  I  could  not  acquiesce  in  thy  dcalmgs  with  me,  nor 
submit  to  thy  will;  but  now  1  can.  I  choose  to  be  deprived 
of  my  wife  and  child,  because  it  is  thy  will.  Accept  them 
at  my  hands.     I  trust  them  entirely  to  thee."* 

But  while  he  was  indulging  in  these  musings,  his  thoughts 
were  insensibly  directed  toward  Christ  Jesus.  "  It  pleased 
God  to  reveal  his  Son  in  him,  that  he  might  preach  among 
the  Gentiles,  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ."  In  the 
reflections  of  his  mind,  on  this  occasion,  there  appear,  in- 
deed, considerable  workings  of  the  imagination,  tinctured, 
perhaps,  with  some  degree  of  enthusiasm;  j^et,  of  the  reality 
of  the  change,  not  even  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  can  remain. 
The  fruits  which  lollowed  afford  the  clearest  and  most  satis- 
factory evidence,  that  he  vyas  not  only  no  longer  an  infidel , 
but  a  Christian  of  distinguished  eminence.! 

Soon  after  this  memorable  event,  Dr.  Vanderkemp  was 
introduced  into  a  new  scene  of  labour,  in  which  the  renovated 
dispositions  of  his  mind  had  an  opportunity  of  displayini^- 
themselves  in  his  outward  conduct.  In  1793,  on  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war  with  France,  a  large  hospital  was 
erected  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Rotterdam,  and  as  he  was 
well  known,  not  only  as  an  officer  of  merit,  in  a  military 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  356.  f  Ibid'. 


hy  the  London  Missionary  Society,  389 

capacity,  but  as  a  physician  of  distinguished  eminence,  he 
was  appointed  the  director  and  superintendent  of  that  insti- 
tution. His  management  of  this  extensive  and  important 
establishment,  reflected  the  highest  honour  upon  him.  The 
patients  loved  him  as  a  father;  the  servants  obeyed  him  as 
children.  Besides  attending  to  their  temporal  welfare,  Dr. 
Vanderkemp  endeavoured  to  promote  their  spiritual  interests. 
Two  or  three  times  a  week,  he  procured  a  catechist  to  in- 
struct them;  and  on  the  Lord's  day,  he  had  public  worship 
regularly  performed  among  them.  By  the  invasion  of  the 
French,  however,  this  hospital  was  at  length  broken  up, 
after  which  Dr.  Vanderkemp  retired  to  Dort  to  live  on  his 
private  fortune.* 

At  this  place  he  led  a  retired,  but  not  an  idle  life,  being 
pngaged  in  extensive  study,  particularly  of  Oriental  litera- 
ture, and  exhibiting  an  amiable  example  of  the  power  of  re- 
ligion in  his  daily  conduct.  From  this  state  of  retirement, 
indeed,  it  was  not  long  before  he  was  roused.  Having  re- 
ceived a  copy  of  an  address  from  the  Missionary  Society  in 
London,  to  the  friends  of  religion  in  Germany,  it  made  a  deep 
impression  upon  his  mind;  and  this  was  still  further  strength- 
ened, by  afterwards  reading  the  sermons  which  were  preach- 
ed at  the  formation  of  that  institution.  He  was  particularly 
struck  with  the  following  quotations  from  Deborah's  song: 
"  Curse  ye  Meroz,  said  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  curse  ye  bitter- 
ly  the  inhabitants  thereof;  because  they  came  not  to  the  help  of 
the  Lord,  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  againstthe  might)^"  On  read- 
ing these  words,  he  fell  on  his  knees,  and  exclaimed,  "Here 
am  I,  Lord  Jesus.  Thou  knowest,  I  have  no  will  of  my  own. 
since  I  devoted  myself  to  thy  service.  Preserve  me  only 
from  doing  any  thing,  in  this  great  work,  in  a  carnal  self- 
sufficient  spirit,  and  lead  me  in  the  right  way."  He  soon 
after  offered  himself  to  the  Missionary  Society,  and  made 
choice  of  South  Africa  as  the  scene  of  his  labours;  a  choice 
in  which  the  directors  acquiesced,  in  deference  to  his  wish- 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol,  i.  p.  3SQ. 


390  Propagation  of  Christianity 

es,  though  they  would  rather  he  had  settled  in  some  more  ci- 
vilized quarter  of  the  world.* 

Having  come  over  to  London,  he  was  not  unemployed 
during  his  residence  in  that  city,  but  eagerly  directed  his 
attention  to  whatever  he  thought  might  promote  the  success 
of  his  labours.  Among  other  circumstances,  the  following 
is  not  unworthy  of  notice,  as  a  proof  both  of  his  humility  and 
his  zeal.  Apprehending  that  an  acquaintance  with  the 
method  of  making  bricks  might  be  useful  in  such  a  country 
as  South  Africa,  he  employed  himself  for  a  short  time  in 
the  mechanical  part  of  that  business,  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  London.  Conduct  so  condescending  and  disinterested, 
ennobles  the  character  of  a  man  of  science,  such  as  Dr.  Van- 
derkemp  was,  and  reminds  us  of  that  distinguished  per- 
sonage Peter  the  Great  of  Russia,  who,  with  a  view  to  the 
improvement  of  his  empire,  wrought  incognito,  as  a  ship- 
Wright  in  the  dock-yards  of  Holland  and  Britain,  that  he 
might  learn  to  instruct  his  subjects  in  the  art  of  naval  archi. 
tecture.f 

Dr.  Lichtenstein,  who  travelled  through  Southern  Africa 
a  few  years  ago,  has  thrown  out  a  number  of  calumnies  on 
the  character  of  Dr.  Vanderkemp,  and  the  other  missiona- 
ries from  Holland  and  England,  particularly  for  neglecting, 
as  he  pretends,  to  instruct  the  Hottentots  in  the  useful  arts 
of  life,  but  yet  he  has  unwittingly  mentioned  a  circumstance, 
which,  while  it  suggests  a  refutation  of  some  of  the  false- 
hoods which  he  states,  presents,  at  the  same  time,  an  inte- 
resting picture  of  the  humility  of  this  illustrious  man.  *'  On 
our  arrival,"  says  he,  "  at  Algoa  bay,  the  commissary-gen- 
eral received  a  visit  from  Dr.  Vanderkemp.  In  the  very 
hottest  part  of  the  morning,  he  saw  a  waggon,  such  as  is 
used  in  husbandry,  drawn  by  four  meagre  oxen,  coming 
slowly  along  the  sandy  downs.  Vanderkemp  sat  upon  a 
plank  laid  across  it,  without  a  hat;  his  venerable  bald  head 

•  IMissionary  Transactions,  vol.  i.  p.  351,  353. 
•j-  Metnoii-  of  Di-.  Vanderkemp,  p.  14. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society »  391 

exposed  to  the  burning  rays  of  the  sun.  He  was  dressed  in 
a  thread- bare  black  coat,  waistcoat,  and  breeches,  without 
shirt,  neckcloth,  or  stockings;  and  leather  sandals  bound 
upon  his  feet,  the  same  as  are  worn  by  the  Hottentots.  The 
commissary- general  hastened  to  meet  and  receive  him  with 
the  utmost  kindness.  He  descended  from  his  car,  and  ap- 
proached with  slow  and  measured  steps,  presenting  to  our 
view  a  tall,  meagre,  yet  venerable  figure.  In  his  serene 
countenance  might  be  traced  remains  of  former  beauty;  and 
in  his  eye,  still  full  of  fire,  was  plainly  to  be  discerned,  the 
powers  of  mind  which  had  distinguished  his  early  years. 
Instead  of  the  usual  salutations,  he  uttered  a  short  prayer,  in 
which  he  begged  a  blesshig  upon  our  chief  and  his  company, 
and  the  proiectiou  of  heaven  during  the  remainder  of  our 
journey.  He  then  accompanied  us  into  the  house,  when 
he  entered  into  conversation  freely,  upon  many  subjects, 
without  any  superciliousness  or  aifected  solemnity.* 

We  shall  only  further  add,  that  Dr.  Vanderkemp,  during 
his  labours  in  Africa,  was  so  anxious  to  lessen,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, the  expences  of  the  mission,  that  he  generally  sup- 
ported himself  with  little  or  no  cost  to  the  Missionary  So- 
ciety- It  may  also  be  mentioned,  as  a  proof  of  his  singular 
benevolence,  that  he,  at  various  times,  purchased  the  liberty 
of  several  slaves  in  the  colony,  out  of  his  own  private  for- 
tune. In  the  course  of  three  years,  he  redeemed  seven  of 
these  unfortunate  beings,  at  no  less  expence  than  about  800/. 
Circumstances  such  as  these,  illustrate  more  forcibly  the 
character  of  a  man,  than  any  laboured  description  it  is  pos. 
sible  to  draw.f 

*  Lichtensteln's  Travels  in  Squtheru  Africa,  in  the  years  1803,  1804,  1805,  and 
1806,  p.  237. 

t  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  iij.  p.  203,  249.    Memoir  of  Dr.  Vanderkemp,  p.  37- 


392  Propagation  of  Christianity 

ARTICLE  IL 

Zak  River. 

IN  May  1799,  Messrs.  Kicherer  and  Edwards  left  Cape- 
town,  with  tlie  view  of  proceeding  to  Zak  River,  a  small 
brook  about  four  or  five  hundred  miles  to  the  north  east  of 
that  place.     It  was  originally  intended  that  they  should  have 
been  engaged  in  the  same  mission  as  Dr.  Vanderkemp;  but 
owing  to   the  following   circumstances,  it  was   agreed  to 
change  their  destination  to  that  part  of  the  country.     A  few 
days  previous  to  their  arrival  at  the  Cape,  diree  Boschemen 
had  come  thither  from  Zak  River,  with  the  view  of  soliciting 
government  to  send  teachers  among  them.     It  appears  that 
the  farmers  who  lived  in  the  back  settlements,  had  of  late 
been  greatly  molested  by  the  depredations  of  the  neighbour- 
ing savages;  and,  in  order  to  prevent  similar   calamities  in 
future,  the  landrost  had  advised  them  to  purchase  a  peace, 
at  the  expence  of  several  thousand  sheep.     At  the  ratifica- 
tion of  this  contract,  some  of  the  colonists  offered  up  a  pray- 
er in  the  presence  of  the  Boschemen,  who,  in  reply  to  their 
inquiries  concerning  the  nature  and  design  of  this  action, 
were  informed,  that  it  was  with  the  view  of  imploring  the 
blessing  of  God  Almighty,  who  is  the  source  of  every  good, 
and  that  their  ignorance  and  neglect  of  this  Great  Being 
were  the  cause  of  their  comparative  poverty  and  wretched- 
ness.    On  receiving  this  explanation,  the  savages  expressed 
their  earnest  desire  that  suitable  persons  might  come  and 
reside  among  them,  and  give  them  those  valuable   instruc- 
tions,  which  would  enable  them  to  become  as  rich  and  happy 
as  their  neighbours.     With  this  view,  they  were  directed  to 
the  government  at  the  Cape;  and  as  this  appeared  to  be  a 
providential  call  to  go  and  visit  them,  it  was  agreed,  that 
while  Vanderkemp  and  Edmonds  proceeded  into  Caffraria. 


'.*»■ 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  393 

Kicherer  and  Edwards  should  undertake  a  mission  among 
the  Boschemen.* 

In  the  course  of  their  joumey  to  Zak  River,  the  mission- 
aries experienced  much  kindness  from  the  colonists,  who  not 
only  treated  them  with  the  utmost  hospitality,  but  furnished 
them  with  oxen  for  their  waggons,  and  made  them  many 
other  valuable  presents.  After  being  detained  for  sometime 
at  Rodezand,  they  set  off  for  the  house  of  Florus  Fischer, 
who  possessed  the  last  farm  in  the  Karroo.  This  is  a  vast 
tract  of  land,  of  many  days  journey,  so  dry  in  the  summer  as 
not  to  produce  a  blade  of  grass;  but  happily  for  our  travel- 
lers, it  afforded,  at  this  time,  sufficient  pasture  for  their  cat- 
tle, and  for  those  of  the  surrounding  inhabitants,  who,  hear- 
ing of  their  journey,  came  from  all  parts  to  hear  the  gospel. 
Having  at  length  arrived  at  Florus  Fischer's,  they  continued 
here  three  weeks,  during  which  they  enjoyed  many  a  crowd- 
ed and  happy  meeting  with  the  neighbouring  farmers,  par- 
ticularly on  the  Sabbath,  when  they  once  had  twenty-two 
waggons  full  of  people,  besides  many  on  horseback,  some  of 
whom  came  four  days  journey  to  hear  the  word  of  God,  and 
to  partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper;  for  numbers  of  these  peo- 
ple had  no  church  which  they  could  attend  nearer  than 
Rodezand,  a  distance  of  eight  days  journey.f 

Having  prepared  for  their  journey,  they  set  off  for  Zak 
River,  accompanied  by  their  generous  host  Mr.  Fischer, 
with  several  other  farmers  and  their  servants,  to  the  number 
of  about  fifty;  and  in  their  train,  they  had  six  waggons  full 
of  provisions,  sixty  oxen,  and  neai'  two  hundred  sheep,  as 
presents  from  the  Dutch  colonists.  In  the  course  of  their 
journey,  they  were  much  infested  by  lions,  panthers,  tigers, 
and  other  beasts  of  prey;  but  providentially  they  all  escaped 
unhurt.  Having,  at  length,  arrived  at  Zak  River,  they  fixed 
on  a  spot  for  a  settlement,  which  they  called  Happy  Prospect 
Fountain.  It  was  near  two  fine  springs  of  water,  and  there 
was  a  good  piece  of  ground  for  cultivation;  but  the  surround- 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  1.        \  Ibid-  vol.  ii.  p.  2. 
VOL.   II.  3  D 


394  Propagation  of  Christianity 

mg  country  was  barren,  and  the  inhabitants  few  in  number. 
Here  the  missionaries  immediately  began  to  prepare  a  plot 
for  a  garden,  and  to  build  themselves  a  hut  of  reeds,  these 
being  the  best  materials  they  could  find  for  that  purpose,  as 
not  a  tree  grew  in  the  country.* 

After  a  few  days,  Mr.  Fischer  and  their  other  friends  left 
them,  and  returned  home.  This,  as  may  easily  be  conceiv- 
ed, was  a  severe  trial  to  the  missionaries.  "  I  well  remem- 
ber," says  Mr.  Kicherer,  "  how^  deeply  my  spirits  were  de- 
pressed about  this  time,  and  how  insupportable  my  situa- 
tion would  have  been,  separated,  as  I  found  myself,  from  all 
I  loved  in  this  world,  had  not  urgent  business  dispersed  my 
gloomy  reflections,  and  had  not  the  Lord,  whom  I  served, 
condescended  to  pacify  my  troubled  heart,  when  I  spread 
my  complaint  before  him.  This  was  particularly  the  case 
one  evening,  when,  sitting  on  a  stone  surrounded  by  a  circle 
of  Boschemen,  I  attempted  to  convey  the  first  religious  in- 
structions to  their  untutored  minds,  f 

It  may  not  be  improper  to  introduce  in  this  place  some 
account  of  this  barbarous  people.  They  have  no  idea  of 
the  Supreme  Being,  and  consequently  they  practise  no  kind 
of  worship.  They  have,  however,  a  superstitious  reverence 
for  a  little  insect,  known  by  the  name  of  the  Creeping-leaf,  a 
sight  of  which,  they  conceive,  indicates  something  fortunate, 
and  to  kill  it,  they  suppose,  will  bring  a  curse  upon  the  per- 
petrator. They  have  also  some  notion  of  an  evil  spirit, 
which  they  imagine  produces  mischief,  particularly  the  dis- 
eases which  they  suffer;  and  in  order  to  counteract  his  ma- 
licious purposes,  they  employ  a  certain  description  of  men 
to  blow,  and  make  a  humming  noise  over  the  sickj  a  prac- 
tice which  they  sometimes  continue  for  many  hours  to- 
gether. J 

Their  manners  of  life  is  extremely  wretched  and  disgust- 
ing.    They  delight  to  smear  their  bodies  with  the  fat  of  ani- 

*  Miss.  Trans.  \o\.  ii.  p.  5.  f  Ibid.  vol.  il.  P'  6. 

!  Ibid.  vol.  ii.p.  6. 


by  the  Loudon  Missionary  Society.  395 

mals,  mixed  with  a  certain  kind  of  powder,  which  gives  them 
a  glossy  appearance.  They  are  utter  strangers  to  cleanHness, 
as  they  never  wash  their  bodies;  and  they  even  allow  the 
dirt  to  accumulate  to  such  a  degree,  that  sometimes  it  hangs 
a  considerable  way  from  their  elbows.  Nothing  can  exceed 
their  desire  of  tobacco.  They  are  so  much  addicted  to 
smoking,  that  the  women  and  children,  as  well  as  the  men» 
would  rather  suffer  hunger  than  want  this  noxious  herb. — 
They  form  their  huts,  by  digging  a  hole  in  the  earth  about 
three  feet  deep,  and  then  covering  it  with  reeds,  which  are 
not,  however,  sufficient  to  keep  out  the  rain.  Here  they  lie 
close  together,  like  so  many  pigs  in  a  stye.  They  are  ex- 
tremely lazy,  so  that  nothing  will  rouse  them  to  action  but 
excessive  hunger.  They  will  continue  several  days  together 
without  food,  rather  than  be  at  the  pains  to  procure  it. — 
When  constrained  to  sally  forth  in  quest  of  prey,  they  are 
extremely  dexterous  in  destroying  the  various  kinds  of  ani- 
mals which  abound  in  the  country.  The  wild  beasts  they 
always  shoot  with  poisoned  darts.  They  extract  the  poison 
from  the  jaw-bone  of  the  serpent,  and  insert  it  in  the  point 
of  their  arrow  or  harping  iron.  They  then  creep  behind 
the  small  bushes,  where  they  conceal  themselves  and  attack 
the  beast,  at  about  the  distance  of  a  hundred  steps.  If  the 
dart  wounds  it  in  the  slightest  degree,  they  are  sure  of  their 
prey.  Sometimes  the  animal  falls  down  dead  immediately; 
in  other  cases,  it  flics,  which  obliges  them  to  pursue  it.  Hav- 
ing at  length  taken  it,  they  cut  out  the  wounded  part,  and 
eat  the  rest  of  the  carcase  without  injury.  When  they  are 
on  these  hunting  expeditions,  it  is  said  they  can  run  for  se- 
veral days  together,  and  are  able  to  hold  out  as  nell  as  a 
horse.  If,  however,  they  are  unsuccessful  in  the  chase,  they 
make  a  shift  to  live  upon  snakes,  mice,  and  such  other  crea- 
tures as  they  can  find,  however  loathsome  they  may  be. — 
There  are  also  spontaneous  productions  of  the  earth,  of  the 
bulbous  kind,  which  they  eat,  particularly  the  cameron, 
which  is  as  large  as  a  child's  head,  and  the  baroo,  whicli  is 


296  Propagation  of  Christianity 

about  the  size  of  an  apple.    In  general,  however,  they  are  no 
great  admirers  of  vegetable  food.* 

The  Boschemen  are  total  strangers  to  domestic  happiness. 
Polygamy  is  common  among  them,  and,  as  might  be  ex- 
pected, conjugal  affection  is  little  known.  They  take  no 
great  care  of  their  children,  and  it  is  said  they  never  correct 
them  except  in  a  fit  of  anger,  when  they  almost  kill  them  by 
their  severity.  In  a  quarrel  between  a  father  and  mother, 
or  between  the  several  wives  of  the  same  man,  the  defeated 
party  takes  revenge  on  the  child  of  the  conqueror,  which,  in 
general,  loses  its  life.  It  is  even  not  uncommon  for  the 
Boschemen  to  murder  their  children,  when  they  are  in  want 
of  food,  when  they  are  obliged  to  flee  from  the  farmers  or 
other  enemies,  when  the  infant  is  ill- shaped,  or  when  the  fa- 
ther has  forsaken  its  mother.  In  these  cases,  they  will  stran- 
gle them,  smother  them,  cast  them  away  in  the  desert,  or 
bury  them  alive.  There  are  even  instances  of  parents  throw- 
ing their  tender  offspring  to  the  hungry  lion,  who  stands 
roaring  before  their  cavern,  refusing  to  depart  till  some  peace- 
offering  is  presented  to  him.  In  general,  their  children  cease 
to  be  the  object  of  a  mother's  care,  as  soon  as  they  are  able 
to  crawl  about  the  field.  They  go  out  in  the  morning,  and 
when  they  return  in  the  evening,  an  old  sheep's  skin  to  lie 
upon,  and  a  little  milk,  or  piece  of  meat,  are  all  they  have 
to  expect.  In  some  few  instances,  however,  you  meet  with 
a  spark  of  natural  affection,  which  places  these  savages  on  a 
level  with  the  brute  creation. f 

As  the  Boschemen  are  so  unnatural  to  their  offspring,  it  is 
not  wonderful  though  they  treat  their  aged  relations  with  in- 
difference and  neglect.  When  removing  from  place  to  place 
for  the  purpose  of  hunting,  they  frequently  forsake  their 
old  friends  in  the  desert.  In  these  cases,  they  leave  them 
a  piece  of  meat,  and  an  ostrich  egg-shell  full  of  water.  As 
soon  as  this  little  stock  is  exhausted,  the  poor  deserted  crea- 

*  Miss.  Tj-ans.  vol.  ii.  p.  7,  IS.  f  Ibid.  vol.  si.  p,  8. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society »  397 

tares  must  perish  of  hunger,  or  become  the  prey  of  the  wild 
beasts.* 

Many  of  the  Boschemen  live  by  plunder  and  murder,  and 
are  guilty  of  the  most  horrid  and  atrocious  crimes.  Such, 
indeed,  is  the  horror  and  detestation  with  which  they  are 
viewed  in  the  country,  that  a  colonist  thinks  he  cannot  pro- 
claim a  more  meritorious  action,  than  the  murder  of  one  of 
these  wretched  people.  A  boor  from  Graaf  Reinet  being 
asked,  in  the  secretary's  office  at  Capetown,  if  the  savages 
were  numerous  or  troublesome  upon  the  road,  replied,  with 
as  much  composure  and  indifference  as  if  he  had  been  speak- 
ing of  so  many  patridges,  that  he  had  shot  only  four.  Mr. 
Barrow  informs  us,  that  he  himself  heard  one  of  the  colonists 
boast  of  having  destroyed,  with  his  own  hands,  near  three 
hundred  of  these  unfortunate  wretches. f 

Such  were  the  people  among  whom  Providence  had  call- 
ed the  missionaries  to  labour.  The  number  of  Boschemen 
who  came  to  them  now  increased  considerably;  and  it  was 
not  long  before  they  afforded  them  some  encouragement  in 
their  work.  Mr.  Kicherer  informs  us,  that  he  often  felt  in- 
expressibly happy,  when  setting  forth  to  these  poor  perish- 
ing creatures,  the  infinite  grace  of  the  Redeemer.  Frequent- 
ly he  began  his  work  sighing,  and  concluded  it  exulting 
with  gladness  of  heart.  It  was  very  affecting  to  observe, 
how  amazed  they  were  when  he  told  them  of  a  God,  and  of 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  They  knew  not  how  to  express 
their  astonishment  in  language  sufficiently  strong,  that  they 
should  have  lived  so  long  without  ever  having  thought  of  the 
Supreme  Being.  Sometimes,  the  impression  which  his  ad- 
dresses made  upon  them  was  so  great,  that  it  appeared  as  if 
there  could  be  no  doubt  of  success;  at  other  times,  the  na- 
tural inconstancy  of  the  savages  seemed  to  reverse  every 
promising  sign.;]: 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  8. 

f  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  8     R.trrpw's  Travels  in  Southern  Africa,  vol.  i.  p.  85. 

\  Ibid   vol.  ii.  p.  9,  n 


398  Propagation  of  Christianity 

Many  of  the  Boschemen  now  began  to  pray,  and  in  their 
prayers,  they  discovered  much  of  the  simplicity  that  is  na- 
tural to  untutored  minds:  "  O  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  they 
would  say,  "  thou  hast  made  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  hills, 
the  rivers,  the  bushes,  therefore  thou  hast  power  also  to 
change  my  heart:  O  be  pleased  to  make  it  entirely  new!" 
Some  declared  that  they  had  not  been  able  to  sleep  all  night 
for  sorrow  on  account  of  their  sins,  and  that  they  had  been 
forced  to  rise  and  pray.  Others  said,  that  on  their  hunting 
expeditions,  they  had  felt  a  sudden  impulse  to  prostrate  them- 
selves before  the  Lord,  and  to  ask  for  a  new  heart.  But 
though  many  of  them  now  seemed  to  pray  to  God  there 
was  reason  to  doubt  the  sincerity  of  some  of  them,  as  there 
was  no  suitable  alteration  in  their  lives,  but  instead  of  this, 
much  Pharisaical  ostentation,  mechanical  profession,  and,  it 
was  feared,  interested  views;  for  some  of  them  seemed  to 
pray  with  no  other  design  than  to  obtain  a  piece  of  tobacco. 

There  were  several,  however,  who  discovered  some  tokens 
of  a  work  of  grace  in  their  hearts:  they  not  only  expressed 
themselves  in  an  experimental  manner,  but  manifested  a 
visible  change  in  their  external  conduct.  One  of  them,  na- 
med Baasjee,  often  exclaimed,  "  O  that  I  might  be  so  happy 
as  to  know  the  Lord  Jesus!"  When  asked  his  reason  for 
this,  he  replied,  with  much  simplicity,  "  Why  should  I  not, 
when  I  am  so  afraid  of  the  great  fire,  If  I  put  my  finger  into 
the  ashes  only,  I  feel  most  exquisite  pain:  What  then  must 
it  be  to  suffer  everlasting  burnings?  But  to  have  the  Lord 
Jesus  for  my  friend,  and  the  blessed  heaven  you  describe, 
who  would  not  long  for  that?"  His  wife  Autjee  appeared 
no  less  promising.  She  never  neglected  the  meetings  of  the 
congregation;  and  besides  joining  in  prayer  three  times  a 
day,  she  used  to  retire  to  solitary  places  for  the  same  sacred 
exercise.  The  captain  Abraham  likewise  often  withdrew 
to  pray  to  God  for  a  new  heart,  and  though  he  did  not  speak 
much,  yet  the  missionaries  could  not  but  entertain  a  good 
opinion  of  him.* 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  329;  vol.  ii.  p.  8, 


by  the  London  Missoionary  Society.  399 

When  the  missionaries  first  entered  upon  their  work,  they 
laboured  to  convince  their  hearers  by  arguments  addressed 
to  their  understandings,  but  their  endeavours  in  this  way 
were  attended  with  little  success.  The  savages  continually 
raised  objections  to  what  was  said,  and  it  was  often  no  easy 
matter  to  answer  them  to  their  satisfaction.  The  missiona- 
ries then  had  recourse  to  that  method,  which,  in  the  days 
of  the  Apostle  Paul,  as  well  as  in  modem  ages,  has  been 
found  the  most  effectual  mean  of  converting  the  Heathen. 
They  insisted  chiefly  on  the  dying  love  of  Christ  in  a  simple 
and  affectionate  manner;  they  represented  him  as  an  all-suffi- 
cient Saviour  for  lost  and  helpless  sinners;  they  earnestly 
invited  them  to  come  to  him,  that  they  might  be  saved. 
x\fter  they  adopted  this  method,  their  labours  were  attended 
with  remakable  success.  From  time  to  time,  numbers  of 
their  hearers,  who  before  were  impenetrable  as  a  rock,  came 
to  them,  and  with  tears  in  their  eyes,  declared,  that  they 
now  perceived  more  and  more  the  truth  and  excellency  of 
the  gospel,  which  they  found  to  be  the  power  of  God  to 
their  salvation.  This  was  particularly  the  case  with  the 
Hottentots  who  attended  upon  their  ministrations.* 

It  is  also  worthy  of  notice,  that,  about  this  time,  Mr. 
Kicherer  was,  in  a  peculiar  manner,  impressed  with  the 
necessity  and  importance  of  prayer.  He  was  often  enabled 
to  bend  his  knees,  with  his  little  flock,  before  Him  who  had 
promised  to  take  the  Heathen  for  his  inheritance,  and  to 
wrestle  with  him  for  a  blessing  on  his  labours.  Frequently, 
the  more  dark  and  gloomy  the  prospect  was,  the  more  abun- 
dantly was  the  spirit  of  supplication  poured  out  upon  him. 
He  felt  a  happy  freedom  in  pleading  the  promises  of  the 
Redeemer,  in  relying  upon  his  faithfulness  to  fulfil  them, 
and  in  commending  the  poor  savages  to  his  compassion  and 

love.f 

As  the  Boschemen  now  flocked  to  them  in  considerable 
numbers,  the  missionaries  were  obliged,  for  the  sakeof  dis- 

•  Miss,  Trans,  vol.  ii.p.  12.        f  Ibid,  vol.  ii.  p.  9. 


400  Propagation  of  Christianity 

tinguishing  one  from  another,  to  give  them  names,  which 
they  wrote  with  chalk  on  their  backs;  accordingly,  when  any 
one  approached  them,  the  first  thing  he  did  was  to  shew  them 
his  shoulders.  Besides  instructing  them  in  the  principles 
of  religion,  the  missionaries  made  it  their  study  to  excite  a 
spirit  of  industry  among  them,  and  for  this  purpose  they 
gave  them  little  presents;  to  the  men,  tobacco,  to  the  women, 
handkerchiefs,  and  dried  fruit  to  the  children.  Mr.  Kiche- 
rer's  own  garden  now  began  to  assume  a  flourishing  aspect, 
and  promised  soon  to  enable  him  to  supply  at  least  twenty 
guests,  besides  occasional  food  for  the  Boschemen;  but  these 
people,  as  we  have  already  mentioned,  have  no  great  relish 
for  vegetables.  Indeed,  they  would  scarcely  eat  them  at 
all,  unless  he  saved  them  the  trouble  of  cooking  them,  and 
took  them  to  their  huts  ready  for  use.* 

In  January  1800,  Mr.  Kicherer  found  it  necessary  to  take 
a  journey  to  Capetown,  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  sup- 
plies for  his  people,  particularly  clothes.  A  number  of  the 
Boschemen,  who  had  never  been  at  the  Cape,  offered  to  ac- 
company him;  a  circumstance  which  afforded  him  great  sa- 
tisfaction, as  it  was  a  certain  proof,  that  the  suspicions  they 
had  at  first  entertained  of  him  and  his  companions  were  de- 
clining, and  that  they  felt  an  increasing  confidence  in  them. 
They  travelled  agreeably,  though  slowly;  the  wholelcom- 
pany,  both  old  and  young,  being  obliged  to  walk  all  the 
way.  After  a  journey  of  about  a  month,  they  reached  Cape- 
town; but  as  they  approached  that  place,  the  feelings  of  the 
Boschemen  were  widely  different  from  those  of  Mr.  Kiche- 
rer. He  anticipated,  with  delight,  the  pleasing  scenes  before 
him;  but  they  were  struck  with  terror  and  dismay.  Some 
of  the  first  objects  which  presented  themselves  to  their  view, 
were  several  malefactors  hung  in  chains  for  their  crimes; 
and  many  of  the  Boschemen  were  conscious  that  they  de- 
served a  similar  punishment.  A  few  days  after,  their  ter- 
ror was  still  further  increased,  by  beholding  the  execution 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ii,  p.  11,  1". 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  401 

of  another  criminal.  Mr.  Kicherer  embraced  this  oppor- 
tunity of  explaining  to  them  the  nature  and  excellence  of  the 
European  system  of  justice,  which  appointed  civil  governors 
for  the  punishment  of  evil  doers,  and  the  reward  of  the  good. 
By  this  they  were  pacified:  they  allowed  the  propriety  of 
the  thing,  and  said,  it  would  be  happy  for  them,  if  a  similar 
order  could  be  established  among  them.  * 

Soon  after  his  arrival  at  Capetown,  Mr.  Kicherer  was 
culled  to  preach  in  the  Calvinist  church,  a  very  capacious 
building,  and  crowded  with  a  very  genteel  auditory.  Hi;> 
Boschemen  who  accompanied  him,  were  much  struck  witli 
the  sight  of  so  great  a  number  of  well  dressed  people,  whom, 
in  their  simplicity,  they  compared  to  a  nest  of  ants:  and  the 
sound  of  the  organ  was,  at  first,  mistaken  by  them  for  the 
humming  noise  of  a  bee-hive.  From  that  time,  they  enter- 
tained a  higher  idea  of  their  minister;  for  before,  they  had 
been  tempted  to  consider  him  as  a  beggarly  fellow,  who 
had  come  among  them  merely  to  obtain  a  livelihood.  He 
embraced  every  proper  opportunity  of  introducing  them  into 
Christian  company  and  religious  meetings.  From  this  they 
derived  much  advantage,  being  thereby  convinced  of  two 
things,  namely,  that  the  doctrine  he  had  preached  to  them 
was  agreeable  to  the  common  creed  of  Christians;  and  that 
Christians,  in  general,  were  much  happier  than  Boschemen. f 

Having  finished  their  business  at  the  Cape,  Mr.  Kicherer 
and  his  Boschemen  set  off  on  their  return  home;  but  their 
journey  proved  very  uncomfortable,  as  the  country  was  com- 
pletely inundated  by  the  copious  rains  which  had  lately  fal- 
len. At  length,  however,  they  arrived  at  the  Happy  Pros- 
pect Fountain;  and  though  they  left  home  without  any  thing, 
they  now  brought  back  with  them  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
six  sheep,  and  four  cows,  which  had  been  presented  to  them 
by  the  colonists. if 

During  their  absence,  a  captain  of  the  Boschemen,  named 
X'^igilant,  came  to  the  settlement,  in  order  to  seize  a  sheep 

'  Miss.  Trans,  vol   li.  p.  13  \  I'./ul.  vol.  i'.  p.  14.  i  Ibid.  vcl.  ii.  p.  15 

vol..  II.  S  E 


402  Propagation  of  Christianity 

as  his  due;  and  as  Mr,  Kramer,  a  native  of  the  Cape,  who 
had  lately  joined  Mr.  Kicherer,  opposed  him,  the  wretch 
stabbed  the  animal,  and  then  aimed  a  thrust  at  the  mission- 
ary; but  providentially  his  life  was  preserved  by  the  inter- 
position of  a  girl,  who  warded  off  the  blow  with  her  karass 
or  sheep-skin.  The  assassin,  being  seized  by  Mr.  Kramer, 
was  conveyed  to  the  next  farmer  Fiorus  Fischer,  who  put 
him  into  confinement,  with  the  view  of  sending  him  to  be 
tried  at  Capetown.  Having  escaped,  however,  from  his 
keepers,  he  came  to  the  settlement  soon  after  INIr.  Kichercr's 
return,  foaming  with  rage,  and  calling  on  his  numerous  fol- 
lowers to  assist  him  in  revenging  the  affront.  The  situation 
of  the  missionaries  was  no\v  extremely  critical;  but  that  ve- 
ry night,  they  were  joined  by  Mr.  Scholtz,  a  new  assistant 
from  the  Cape,  together  with  a  farmer  and  his  servants, 
whose  timely  arrival  had  the  happy  effect  of  driving  the  in- 
furiated chief  from  their  neighbourhood.  On  this  occasion, 
they  witnessed  the  friendly  disposition  of  some  of  the 
Boschemen  towards  them;  for  while  their  lives  were  in 
danger,  many  of  their  people  kept  watch  around  their  ha- 
bitation.* 

Having  now  removed  from  Happy  Prospect  Fountain  to 
Zak  River,  they  were  here  joined  by  many  of  the  Hotten- 
tots; but  though  they  increased  in  numbers,  they  did  not  ap- 
pear to  increase  also  in  grace;  and,  indeed,  Mr.  Kicherer 
had  often  cause  to  fear  that  no  lasting  impression  had  been 
made  on  these  fickle  people,  a  circumstance  which  occasion- 
ed him  great  heaviness  of  heart,  f 

Just  about  this  time,  Mr.  Kicherer  received  an  invitation 
to  be  a  minister  at  the  Pearl,  a  village  near  Capetown,  with 
a  handsome  church.  His  mind  was  greatly  perplexed  res- 
pecting it,  as  he  knew  not  whether  he  should  consider  this 
as  a  temptation  to  divert  him  from  his  labours  among  the 
Heathen,  or  as  a  call  from  God  to  a  more  useful  situation. 
Having,  however,  had  recourse  to  prayer,  and  besought  the 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  15.  f  Ibid.  vol.  li.  p.  15. 


hy  the  London  Missionary  Society.  403 

Lord  to  direct  him  in  the  path  of  duty,  he  soon  recovered  his 
usual  composure,  and,  from  certain  providential  circum- 
stances, he  was  led  to  conclude,  that  it  was  not  the  will  of 
God,  he  should  remove  to  the  Pearl;  and,  from  that  very 
time,  the  Lord  condescended  to  bless  his  labours  in  a  re- 
markable manner,  so  that  many  of  the  people,  whose  hearts 
had  been  harder  than  the  rocks  among  which  they  lived,  be- 
gan to  cry  out,  "  What  must  we  do  to  be  saved?"  Fre- 
quently, the  hills  literally  resounded  with  their  loud  com- 
plaints.^ 

One  of  die  first  converts,  at  this  time,  was  the  old  Bastard 
Hottentot  John.  For  some  time  past,  he  had  felt  a  strong 
inclination  to  come  and  hear  the  word  of  God.  From  this 
design,  some  of  the  neighbouring  farmers  endeavoured  to 
dissuade  him,  telling  him  that  the  missionaries  would  either 
sell  or  kill  him.  But  notwithstanding  these  base  insinuations, 
he  came  and  heard  tlie  word;  and  though  he  had  formerly 
been  an  atrocious  ofiender,  he  had  not  sat  many  days  under 
the  sound  of  the  gospel,  when  he  began  to  cry  aloud  under  a 
painful  sense  of  his  sins,  which  he  compared  for  number  to 
the  sands  of  the  desert.  After  mourning  for  some  time  on 
account  of  his  transgressions,  he  began  to  speak  of  the  love 
of  Christ  to  sinners  in  general,  and  to  himself  in  particular. 
This  was  now  his  darling  topic  all  the  day  long;  and,  as  he 
spake  of  it,  his  eyes  overflowed  with  tears  of  love,  and  grati- 
tude, and  joy.  His  heart  was  so  entirely  engrossed  with  the 
things  of  God,  that  he  could  scarcely  bear  to  talk  of  any 
tiling  else.  When  business  of  a  worldly  nature  was  mention- 
ed to  him,  he  would  say,  "  O!  I  have  spoken  too  much  about 
the  world;  let  me  now  talk  of  Christ."  Indeed,  he  did 
speak  of  him  in  a  manner  truly  surprising;  and,  as  Mr. 
Kicherer  was  persuaded,  he  had  never  heard  any  person 
mention  the  same  things,  it  appeared  evident,  that  he  was 
eminently  taught  of  God.  In  the  meanwhile,  his  walk  and 
conversation  were  such  as  corresponded  with  his  Christian 


Miss.  Trans,  vol.  \'v.  p.  J7. 


■b^ 


-i04  Propagation  of  Christianity 

profession.     When  in  a  state  of  Heathenism,   he  had  mar- 
ried  four  wives,  and  he  had  still  two  at  the  time  of  his  coming 
to  hear  the  gospel.     One  day,  he  came  to  Mr.  Kicherer,  and 
said,    He  must  put  away  his  two    wives:    and  on    being 
asked  the  reason  of  this,  he  ansv/ered,  "  Because  when  I  go 
to  God  in  prayer,  my  heart  tells  me  it  is  bad;  and  Christ  is 
more  near  to  me  than  ten  thousand  wives.     I  will  support 
them;  I  will  work  for  them;  and  I  will  stay  till  God  change 
their  hearts:   Then  I  will  take  the  first  w  hose  heart  is  chang- 
ed."    After  a  short  period  of  five  or  six  months,  it  pleased 
the  Lord  to  visit  liim  with  a  disorder  from  which  he  never 
recovered.     Still,  however,  he  insisted  on  being  carried  to 
the  place  of  worship,   saying,  that  as  long  as  he  could  hear, 
he  would  endeavc'.'.r  to  catch  some  of  the  words  of  life. — 
Two  days  before  his  death,  when  Mr.  Kicherer  asked  him 
how  he  felt,  he  replied,  "  A  little  low-spirited;  for  though  I 
am  certain,  that  I  have  surrendered  my  whole  self  to  Christ, 
from  the   moment  I  first  saw  his  loveliness,  yet  I  am  not  so 
3ure  at  present  that  he  has  accepted  of  the  offer."  Mr.  Kicherer 
endeavoured  to  satisfy  him  on  this  head;  but  the  dying  man 
found  no  satisfaction  till  the  day  of  his  departure,  w^hen  he 
said  to  his  beloved  teacher,  "  I  now  see  that  the  Lord  Jesus 
hath  loved  me  with  an  everlasting  love;  that  he  has  accepted 
of  me;   and  that  he  will  be  my  portion  forever:   and  now, 
though  I  am  the  vilest  sinner  on  earth,   yet   relying  on  his 
blood  and  righteousness,  I  will  die  and  go  to  Christ,"* 

His  eldest  son,  Cornelius,  who  was  a  servant  to  a  farmer 
at  some  distance,  came  to  visit  him  just  at  this  moment.  On 
beholding  him,  he  burst  into  tears,  and  said,  "  Ah!  my  fa- 
ther dies  so  happy  in  Jesus,  and  I  have  no  opportunity  of 
hearing  the  gospel!"  Moved  by  his  grief,  Mr.  Kicherer  wrote 
to  his  master,  requesting  him  to  permit  him  to  come  and 
live  with  the  congregation.  To  this  he  received  a  very 
Christian  letter  in  reply,  saying,  that  though  he  would  not, 
on  any  other  account,  have  parted  with  his  best  servant,  yet 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  XT . 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  405 

for  the  sake  of  the  gospel,  he  would  give  him  leave  to  come. 
Cornelius  now  joined  the  congregation,  and  it  pleased  God 
to  bless  the  word  to  his  soul  also.    At  first,  he  cried  mighti- 
ly to  the  Lord  to  pardon  his  sins,  and  thought  to  move  him 
by  the  earnestness  of  his  entreaties,  but  he  found  no  peace  of 
mind,  till  he  at  length  learned,  that  he  could  be  justified  on- 
ly by  the  blood  of  Christ:   then  he  obtained  peace  of  con- 
science, through  the  merits  of  the  Redeemer.  His  heart  was 
now  filled  with  admiration,  love,   and  gratitude,  on  account 
of  the  kindness  which  Christ  Jesus  had  manifested  to  him; 
and  he  felt  a  strong  desire  to  proclaim  the  grace  of  the  Sa- 
viour to  his  fellow-men.     He  even  thought  himself  called 
upon  to  forsake  his  wife   and  children,   and  go  to  distant 
tribes  to  preach  salvation  to  them.     For  six  months,  he 
struggled  against  this  impulse;  his  body  wasted  away  under 
the  secret   conflict,   for  he   concealed  from  every  creature 
what  passed  in  his  bosom.      He  at  length  suddenly  flung  his 
knapsack  ever  his  shoulders,  and  marched  off"  into  the  wil- 
derness;  but  after  engaging  in  prayer,   he  relinquished  his 
design,  and  returned  home.     Here  he  conducted  himself  in 
a  pious  manner,  and  promised,  at  some  future  period,  to  be 
useful  among  his  countrymen.* 

Though  we  must  pass  many  other  instances  of  the  power 
of  religion  among  these  savages,  yet  we  cannot  omit  the  case 
of  Esther,  a  Coranna  by  birth.  When  she  m.ade  her  first 
appearance  among  the  congregation,  Mr.  Kicherer  could 
scarcely  persuade  himself  she  was  of  the  huTuan  species,  her 
karass  was  so  fdthy,  and  her  whole  carriage  so  extremely 
brutal.  Many  a  time  he  thought,  "  Surely  it  is  impossible 
that  such  a  being  should  ever  be  converted!  But  "where  "  sin 
abounded,  grace  did  much  more  abound."  Her  penitential 
tears  soon  began  to  flow  under  the  preaching  of  the  word; 
and  when  she  was  asked,  "  Why  she  wept?"  She  always  as- 
signed such  perthient  reasons,  that  Mr.  Kicherer  was  con- 
vinced her  understanding  was  much  superior  to  what  he  had 

"  Miss   Trins.  vol.ii.  p.  19. 


406  Propagation  of  Christianity 

supposed.  Her  uneasiness  of  mind,  on  account  of  her  sins, 
continued  for  more  than  a  year;  but  having  at  length  ob- 
tained comfort,  she  was  baptized,  and  afterwards  became 
one  of  the  most  active,  industrious,  and  useful  members  of 
the  congregation.*^ 

About  this  time,  several  farmers  having  assembled  at  the 
house  of  the  missionaries  to  partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
a  runaway  slave  made  his  appearance  in  the  settlement. 
They  soon  discovered  who  he  was,  and  thought  of  sending 
him  back  to  his  master,  agreeably  to  an  order  of  govern- 
ment. Having  discovered  their  intention,  the  wretch  deter- 
mined to  be  revenged  upon  them,  and,  while  they  were  at 
worship  in  the  church,  contrived  to  poison  the  well.  Their 
lives  would  certainly  have  fallen  a  sacrifice  to  his  villainy,  had 
not  a  little  girl  providentially  observed  him  commit  the  atro- 
cious act.  Having  received  timely  notice  of  this  circum- 
stance, they  examined  the  fellow,  and  found  in  his  clothes 
the  remainder  of  the  poison,  which  was  a  species  of  moss, 
resembling  human  hair,  and  which  has  the  singular  property 
of  contracting  and  convulsing  the  bowels.  The  culprit  was 
sent  to  Capetown,  and  they  united  in  returning  thanks  to 
God  for  this  merciful  deliverance. f 

On  another  occasion,  as  Mr.  Kicherer  was,  one  evening, 
sitting  near  an  open  window,  a  party  of  Boschemen,  who 
had  concealed  themselves  in  the  neighbourhood,  v/ere  just 
about  to  discharge  a  volley  of  poisoned  arrows  at  him;  but 
being  detected  by  the  same  girl,  who  saved  the  life  of  Mr. 
Kramer  from  the  dagger  of  Vigilant,  they  made  off  in  haste, 
and  thus  he  was  again  mercifully  preserved. t 

We  may  also  mention  another  remarkable  deliverance 
which  Mr.  Kicherer  experienced,  from  the  hands  of  a  per- 
son who  came  to  their  house,  under  the  fictions  name  of 
Stephanos,  a  Greek  by  birth,  and  who,  for  making  base  coin 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  20.  t  "^'J- 

ir  Ibid,  vol  ii.  p.  21. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  407 

at  Capetown,  had  been  sentenced  to  death,  but  effected  his 
escape  from  justice,  a  few  days  previous  to  that  which  was 
fixed  for  his  execution.  The  rumour  of  this  affair,  indeed, 
had  reached  Mr.  Kichercr,  and  when  the  fellovv^  came  to  his 
house,  in  the  absence  of  the  other  missionaries,  who  were 
gone  six  days  journey  with  presents  of  tobacco,  to  invite 
more  of  the  Boschemen  to  come  and  hear  the  gospel,  he 
thought,  that  in  his  countenance  he  perceived  tokens  of  guilt. 
But  his  conversation  was  so  religious,  and  his  professions, 
that  he  came  to  assist  them  in  building  a  chapel,  so  plausi- 
ble, that  Mr.  Kicherer  blamed  him-elffor  harbouring  any 
suspicion,  and  therefore  permitted  him  to  sleep  in  the  room 
next  his  own.  It  would  seem  that  the  wretch  had  contrived 
a  scheme  to  murder  him,  that  he  might  seize  on  his  waggon 
and  goods,  and  then  fly  to  a  distant  horde.  In  the  night 
he  actually  approached  his  bed,  but,  at  that  moment,  Mr. 
Kicherer  happened  to  be  awake,  and  cried  out  to  him  as  if 
privy  to  his  bloody  design.  The  villain  was  disconcerted, 
stammered  an  apology  of  a  pain  in  his  bowels,  and  then  went 
out  of  the  house.  In  the  morning,  Mr.  Kichercr  found  he 
had  fled,  and  that  he  had  not  only  stolen  his  gun,  but  taken 
with  him  many  of  the  Boschemen,  whom  he  seduced,  by 
pretending  that  the  White  people  were  coming  to  be  re- 
venged upon  them  a  suspicion  Avhich  is  easily  infused  into 
the  guilty  conscience  of  these  savages.  The  Hottentots  hav- 
ing pursued  them,  overtook  them  in  the  desert,  and  a  truce 
being  concluded,  Stephanos  was  compelled  to  restore  the 
fowling  piece,  and  dismiss  the  Boschemen.  He  was  now 
left  to  pursue  his  journey  alone;  but,  unfortunately^  he  was 
met  by  the  missionaries  Kramer  and  Scholtz,  who  obliged 
him  to  return  with  them  to  Zak  River;  a  circumstance  which 
involved  their  colleague  Mr.  Kicherer  in  fresh  difficulties, 
and  occasioned  him  much  sorrow,  as  he  was  now  certain  that 
this  was  the  identical  malefactor  who  had  broken  from  prison 
at  the  Cape.  He  begged  his  brethren,  however,  to  keep 
the  wretch  concealed  at  a  distance  from  their  premises,  with 


408  JPropagation  of  Christianity 

the  view  of  allowing  him  to  make  his  escape;  and  in  the 
night  he  met  him,  gave  him  his  best  advice,  together  with 
some  provisions,  and  a  Bible,  and  suffered  him  to  go  away 
to  the  Orange  river,  little  thinking  of  the  injury  he  would 
there  do  to  the  cause  of  religion.* 

Several  of  the  Corannas  from  the  Orange  river  having  ar- 
rived at  the  settlement  about  this  time,  repeated  the  invita- 
tion which  they  had  before  sent  the  missionaries,  to  remove 
to  that  part  of  the  country,  and  to  preach  the  word  of  life 
among  them.  Having  agreed  to  this  proposal,  the  whole 
congregation  left  Zak  River,  in  May  1801,  and  about  the 
close  of  the  month  they  reached  the  Orange  river,  which  in 
the  dry  season,  is  about  half  as  wide,  as  the  Thames  at  Lon- 
don bridge,  but  which  was  now  so  much  swollen  with  the 
rains  as  to  be  impassible.  While  they  waited  for  the  fall  of 
the  waters,  sonic  of  their  friends  on  the  opposite  shore  were 
bold  cnougii  to  swim  across,  and  assisted  them  in  construct- 
ing rafts.  By  means  of  these,  they  were  able  in  about  a  week 
to  pass  over  the  river,  though  not  without  great  difficulty, 
for  the  one  in  which  Mr.  Kicherer  was,  sunk  so  deep,  that 
he  was  up  to  the  middle  in  water. f 

Having  settled  near  the  Orange  river,  the  missionaries 
soon  found  themselves  surrounded  by  crowds  of  different 
people,  Corannas,  Namaquas,  Hottentots,  Bastard  Hotten- 
tots and  Boschemen,  together  with  their  numerous  flocks  and 
herds.  The  Corannas  and  Namaquas  were  servants  to  the 
Bastards,  having  been  reduced  to  this  abject  condition  by 
the  depredations  of  a  monster,  known  by  the  name  of  the 
African,  a  Bastard  Hottentot.  This  bloody  wretch,  after 
murdering  his  master,  collected  together  a  band  of  robbers, 
with  whom  he  made  incursions  into  the  Coranna  and  Na- 
maqua  country.  Some  of  these  poor  timid  people  sent  him 
a  message,  requesting  him  to  restore  a  small  part  of  their 
property,  a  cow  for  instance,  to  each  fomily,  that  they  might 
have  a  little  milk  for  their  starving  children.     The  villain 

•Miss    Trans  vol.  il.  p.  22.  f  Ibid,  vol.  ii.  p.  23,  26 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  40& 

promised  to  comply  with  their  request,  on  condition  that 
they  would  cross  the  river  and  take  back  the  animals;  but 
when  they  came,  he  treacherously  seized  them,  tied  them 
to  the  trees,  cut  out  their  tongues,  or  otherwise  maimed 
them;  nay  he  even  shot  some  of  them  dead.  Being  thus 
reduced  to  extreme  distress,  they  were  glad  for  the  sake  of 
subsistence,  to  serve  the  Bastards,  who  treated  them  with 
great  severity,  flogging  and  abusing  them  like  slaves,  and 
allowing  them  little  more  for  their  support  than  the  milk  of 
the  sheep  which  they  kept.  All  these  people  expressed 
great  joy  at  the  arrival  of  the  missionaries  among  them,  par- 
ticularly the  poor  oppressed  Corannas  and  Namaquis,  who 
looked  up  to  them  as  a  kind  of  friends  and  protectors.* 

Besides  cultivating  the  ground,  the  missionaries  here  built 
a  long  shed  of  timber,  reeds,  and  clay,  the  roof  of  which 
reached  the  surface  of  the  earth.  The  middle  part  of  it  was 
their  church,  and  at  each  end  was  a  room,  one  of  which  was 
occupied  by  Messrs.  Anderson  and  Kramer,  the  otht*  by 
Kicherer  and  Scholtz.  This  building  v/iis  appropriated  to 
the  worship  of  the  Hottentots;  another  of  a  similar  construc- 
tion was  devoted  to  the  instruction  of  the  Corannas  and  Na- 
maqujs,  whom  they  addressed  by  interpreters.  Divine  ser- 
vice was  performed  in  both  places  at  the  same  time,  each 
of  the  missionaries  officiating  by  rotation. | 

Here  the  labours  of  the  missionaries  appeared  to  be  attend- 
ed with  remarkable  success.  The  people  manifested  an 
ardent  desire  to  learn  the  things  which  belonged  to  their 
everlasting  peace;  many  of  them  were  brought  under  deep 
convictions  of  their  sinfulness  and  miserv;  and  though  these 
did  not  always  issue  in  sound  conversion,  yet  there  was  rea- 
son to  hope  that  this  was  the  case  in  many  happy  instances. t 

We  should  already  have  mentioned  the  case  of  Cornelius 
Koopman,  who  joined  the  congregation  on  their  way  to  the 
Orange  river,  and  who  had  not  been  with  them  more  than  a 
single  day,  when  he  was  impressed  with  convictions  of  his 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  27.    f  Ibid,  vol,  li.p.  28.        t  Hjiii. 
VOL.  II.  3   F 


410  Propagation  of  Christiajiity 

sinfulness  and  misery.  When  Mr.  Kicherer  first  saw  him, 
there  appeared  so  much  pride  in  his  carriage,  that  he  enter- 
tained a  very  unfavourable  opinion  of  him;  but  no  sooner 
was  his  heart  touched  by  divine  grace,  than  the  lion  was 
changed  into  a  lamb;  the  haughtiness  of  his  deportment  en- 
tirely forsook  him;  and  he  appeared  to  be  clothed  with  hu- 
mility as  with  a  garment.  He  was  remarkably  cautious  m 
what  he  said,  but  discovered,  at  the  same  time,  that  "  faith 
which  worketh  by  love,"  in  the  exercise  of  which  he  enjoy- 
ed close  communion  with  God.  Mr.  Kicherer  had  many 
delightful  conversations  with  him.  *'  Ah!"  he  would  say, 
*^'  how  happy  would  I  think  myself  v/ere  I  assured  that  Jesus 
is  my  Saviour;  there  would  not  be  a  more  blessed  creature 
on  earth  than  myself.  Here,  I  am  so  poor,  that  frequently  I 
know  not  how  to  provide  for  my  family;  I  would  gladly 
clothe  my  children,  were  it  only  in  sheep-skins,  but  alas!  I 
have  no  supplies,  for  my  little  flock  is  all  gone.  Yet  I  had 
rather  starve  here,  where  Jesus  Christ  is  preached,  than  re- 
turn to  serve  those  Christians  who  never  told  me  a  word  of 
God,  or  Christ,  or  of  the  way  of  salvation."  After  he  had 
surrendered  himself  to  the  Lord,  his  whole  walk  and  con- 
versation manifested  the  sincerity  of  his  profession,  and  he 
was  a  pattern  of  godliness  to  all  the  congregation.  Every 
day  he  would  walk  three,  four,  or  five  times,  into  the  soli- 
tude of  the  wilderness,  and  there  hold  communion  with  God 
in  prayer.  Many  a  time  Mr.  Kicherer  watched  him  at  a 
distance,  wrestling  with  God,  and  was  made  to  blush  by  his 
importunity.  It  was  also  his  custom,  about  sun-set,  to  take 
with  hijn  two  of  his  children,  wliom  he  tenderly  loved,  to  a 
solitary  spot,  that  they  might  be  present  at  his  devotions. 
Here,  indeed,  we  may  make  a  general  observation,  that  Mr. 
Kicherer,  when  sitting  by  himself  on  some  eminence,  had 
often  the  pleasure  to  observe  some  of  his  poor  people,  one 
here,  behind  a  rock;  another  there,  under  a  bush,  earnestly 
engaged  in  secret  prayer;  a  circumstance  which  did  not  fail 
to  cheer  and  animate  him  under  all  his  trials.* 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  il.  p.  24 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  411 

While  he  was  in  this  part  of  the  country,  Mr.  Kicherer 
was  mote,  than  once  in  eminent  danger  of  his  Hfe,  from  the 
wild  beasts  of  the  desert.  One  night  before  their  house  was 
built  as  he  and  Mr.  Scholtz  were  sleeping  with  their  Hotten- 
tots by  the  side  of  a  litde  cart,  he  was  so  much  disturbed  by 
the  barking  of  his  spaniel  dog,  that  he  was  perfectly  vexed 
at  him.  The  Hottentots,  however,  understanding  the  little 
creature's  meaning  better  than  he  did,  looked  carefully 
around  the  place,  and  soon  discovered  a  lion  near  them,  who 
like  a  cat  was  creeping  along  the  ground,  in  order  to  spring 
at  them.  They  immediately  snatched  up  their  guns  to  fire 
at  him;  but  the  animal  finding  they  were  so  well  prepared, 
turned  his  tail  and  retreated  with  the  utmost  speed;"  As 
Kicherer  and  Scholtz  lay  nearest  the  spot  from  whence  the 
lion  approached,  they  were,  of  course,  in  the  greatest  danger, 
and  felt  peculiarly  thankful  to  Providence  for  this  new  de- 
liverance.* 

On  another  occasion,  when  Mr.  Kicherer  was  returning 
home,  attended  only  by  one  Hottentot,  he  was  once  obliged 
to  sleep  in  the  open  field.  About  midnight,  their  horses, 
which  were  fastened  near  them,  began  to  be  very  unruly, 
and,  by  the  noise,  awakened  both  of  them  out  of  their  sleep. 
The  Hottentot  was  much  alarmed,  but  seemed  desirous  of 
concealing  from  Mr.  Kicherer  the  cause  of  the  disturbance, 
with  the  view  of  keeping  him  easy.  On  being  closely  inter- 
rogated, however,  he  acknowledged  that  he  saw  a  lion  at  the 
distance  of  twenty  or  thirty  yards.  Mr.  Kicherer  soon  per- 
ceived a  pair  of  eyes  shining  like  two  burning  candles.  Hav- 
ing struck  a  light,  and  set  the  grass  in  a  blaze,  they  discov- 
ered a  huge  animal  with  his  mane  erect,  just  in  the  very  act 
of  springing  upon  them.  At  this  critical  moment,  the  Hot- 
tentot fired  his  piece,  and  the  lion  slunk  away.  This  cir- 
cumstance was  the  more  extraordinary,  as  they  were  able, 
next  morning,  to  trace  his  bloody  footsteps  on  the  ground,  a 
certain  proof  of  his  having  been  wounded,  in  which  case,  a 

•  Aflss.  Trans.  voV  ii.  p.  2p, 


412  Propagation  of  Christianity 

lion  seldom  retreats  till  he  has  taken  revenge  on  his  assail- 
ants. On  their  return  home,  they  learned  from  their  friends, 
during  their  absence  a  lion  had  destroyed  eighteen  of  their 
oxen.* 

The  missionaries  now  received  the  painful  intelligence, 
that  Stephanos,  after  leaving  the  settlement  at  Zak  River, 
had  gone  to  a  horde  of  Bastard  Hottentots,  and  having  there 
set  up  for  a  missionary  and  a  prophet,  had  established  his 
power  so  firmly,  that  his  will  had  all  the  authority  of  law 
among  the  poor  ignorant  people:  the  most  attrocious  crimes 
were  committed  by  him  with  impunity,  and  whoever  ven- 
tured to  murmur  against  his  abominable  acts  of  rapine  and 
lust,  was  sure  to  be  put  into  the  stocks,  or  beaten  unmerci- 
fully. He  had  even  erected  a  kind  of  temple,  \vith  an  altar 
in  the  inside  of  it,  on  which  his  followers  offered  their  sacri- 
fices. He  had  a  number  of  select  disciples,  who,  like  him- 
self, feigned  trances,  in  which  they  lay  for  many  hours,  and 
out  of  which  they  pretended  to  awake  with  messages  from 
the  angel  Gabriel,  or  even  from  God  himself.  If  the  im- 
postor wished  to  gratify  his  lust,  his  covetousness,  or  his  re- 
venge, :•  relation  from  heaven  authorized  him  to  effect  his 
purpose.  If  any  dissatisfaction  or  iukewarmness  arose 
among  his  followers,  he  immediately  threatened  them  with 
the  judgments  of  God,  or  even  with  the  conflagration  of  the 
whole  world. t 

After  mature  deliberation,  Mr.  Kicherer  resolved  to  go  and 
endeavour  to  stop  these  diabolical  proceedings;  but  as  this 
measure  was  likely  to  be  attended  with  danger,  he  took  all 
the  armed  men  of  the  congregation  with  him.  Being  ap- 
prized of  his  design,  Stephanos  called  a  meeting  of  his  fol- 
lowers, and  told  them,  that  this  was  the  important  moment, 
in  which  they  were  called  upon  to  demonstrate  their  attach- 
ment to  God  and  his  prophet;  and  that  if  they  proved  un- 
faithful, fire  would  come  down  from  heaven  and  destroy 
them.  I 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol,  ii.  p.  29.        f  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  30.        +  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  30. 


hy  the  London  Missionarij  Society.  413 

When  Mr.  Kicherer  approached  the  horde,  Stephanos 
stepped  forwaixi  and  offered  him  his  hand.  This  he  refused, 
but  desired  him  to  walk  with  him  under  a  tree,  where  they 
might  converse  together.  Mr.  Kicherer's  people  accompa- 
nied  him  to  the  spot,  and  Steplianos  was  attended  by  his 
followers.  With  the  Bible  in  his  hand,  our  missionary  dis- 
puted with  him  four  hours  successively,  and  was  enabled 
clearly  to  refute  his  arguments.  The  impostor  insisted 
chiefly  on  the  prophecy  of  Joel,  concerning  the  dreams  and 
visions  of  the  latter  days:  he  also  iutroduced  many  passages 
from  the  book  of  Revelation.* 

Stephanos  and  his  deluded  followers,  as  may  easily  be 
supposed,  remained  unconvinced;  or  at  least  they  would 
not  acknowledge  their  error.  The  impostor  himself  pre- 
sented a  striking  emblem  of  the  Prince  of  Darkness.  His 
eyes  rolled  and  flashed  with  rage;  his  tongue  moved  with  in- 
cessant volubilit}^;  and  he  strove  to  vindicate  all  his  attroci- 
ties,  by  examples  derived  from  the  Holy  Scriptures. f 

Mr.  Kicherer  now  thought  himself  fully  justified  in  order- 
ing his  people  to   seize  him,  as  a  malefactor  already  under 
the  sentence  of  the  law,  with  the  view  of  conveying  him  to 
the  Cape  to  suffer  the  punishment  due  to  his  crimes.     The 
order  was  instantly  obeyed,  and  the  impostor  was  made  a 
prisoner  in  his  own  temple.     In  a  moment  liis  crest  fell,  and 
he  requested  our  missionary  in  the  French  language,  which 
the  people  did  not  understand,  to  set  him  at  liberty,  promis- 
ing, in  that  case,  to  leave  the  country.     To  this  Mr.  Kiche- 
rer  replied,  that  if  he  was  convinced  that  he  felt  due  repen- 
tance for  his  crimes,  and  proved  it  by  a  frank  confession  of 
his  guilt,  he  might  perhaps  let  him  go.     Immediately  the 
wretch  spoke  to  the  people,  in  a  pitiful  tone  of  voice  ac- 
knowledging that  he  had  imposed  upon  them;  that  if  they 
went  on  in  the  ways  he  had  taught  them,  they  would  cer- 
tainly go  to  hell:  and  that  they  ought  to  thank  God,  who  had 
sent  them  teachers  of  the  truth\"|: 

*  MJ'ss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  31.         f  Ibid,  vol.  ii.  p.  ;51.        if.  Ibid. 


414  Propagation  of  Christianiiy 

This  confession  had  a  wonderful  effect  upon  the  multi- 
tude, who  crowded  around  our  missionary,  and  thanked  hini 
heartily  for  what  he  had  done,  expressing  boundless  joy  at 
their  deliverance  from  the  yoke  of  this  tyrannical  impostor. 
They  wished  to  send  him  away  raked  into  the  desert;  but 
Mr.  Kicherer  interfered,  and  procured  for  him  a  supply  of 
provisions,  and  a  guide  into  the  Namaqua  country,  towards 
the  sea-coast,  where  he  hoped  the  wretch  might  meet  with 
an  European  vessel,  and  finally  leave  the  country.  In  this^ 
however,  he  was  mistaken.  Mr.  Engelbrecht,  a  farmer 
and  an  officer  of  the  militia,  having  recognized  him  on  his 
journey,  attempted,  in  the  execution  of  his  duty,  to  arrest 
him,  but  unfortunately  fell  in  the  scuffle.  Stephanos,  seiz- 
ing the  opportunity,  cut  his  throat  with  a  razor,  after  which 
he  made  his  escape,  and  joined  the  noted  robber  the  Afri- 
can.^' 

Having  continued  at  the  Orange  river,  about  ten  months^ 
and  finding  that  the  produce  of  the  land  was  not  sufficient 
for  the  support  of  their  numerous  cattle,  the  missionaries 
agreed  to  divide  the  congregation,  and  to  separate.  In  March 
1802,  Messrs.  K-icherer  and  Scholtz  began  to  remove  to 
Zak  River  with  part  of  the  people,  while  Messrs.  Anderson 
and  Kramer  remained  with  the  rest  in  that  quarter  of  the 
country.  The  river  then  being  low,  they  embraced  this  op- 
portunity of  crossing  it;  but  as  they  could  not,  at  that  time, 
pass  the  desert,  they  erected  sheds  of  branches,  as  a  tempo- 
rary residence,  till  they  should  be  able  to  pursue  their  jour- 
ney. Some  Boschemen  belonging  to  the  country  about 
Zak  River,  having  given  them  information  that  considerable 
rain  had  fallen  in  the  wilderness,  a  circumstance  which  alone 
could  enable  them  to  pass  it,  they  broke  up  their  encamp- 
ment and  commenced  their  journey.  They  had  not,  how- 
ever, proceeded  far,  when  they  were  convinced  that  the  sa- 
vages had  deceived  them.  They  travelled  till  the  third  day, 
without  finding  a  drop  of  water.     The  cattle  then  began  to 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol,  ii,  p.  31. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society,  415 

be  in  the  utmost  distress;  their  looks  indicated  extreme 
anguish,  and  their  piteous  lowing  seemed  to  forbode  the 
destruction  of  the  whole  party  in  the  wilderness.  Our  tra- 
vellers at  length  found  a  amall  pool  of  water,  just  sufficient 
to  assuage  their  own  thirst,  but  not  that  of  their  cattle.  A 
girl  was  just  going  to  drink,  when,  to  their  great  mortifi- 
cation, they  perceived  that  it  had  been  poisoned  by  the 
Boschcmcn,  a  circumstance  which  could  not  fail  to  aggra- 
vate their  distress.  Mr.  Kicherer  now  deliberated  in  his 
own  mind,  whether  he  should  not  call  the  people  together 
for  a  prayer  meeting,  to  implore  of  God  a  supply  of  rain; 
but,  on  weighing  the  matter  fully,  he  resolved  to  unite  pri- 
vately with  Mr.  Scholtz  in  supplicating  help  in  this  time  of 
need.  Nor  were  their  prayers  in  vain.  He  who  had  alrea- 
dy, in  many  instances,  heard  the  voice  of  their  petitions, 
again  listened  to  their  cry,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours, 
granted  them  such  plentiful  showers  as  put  a  period  to  their 
distress.* 

Having  stopped  two  days  at  this  place  to  recruit  their  cat- 
tle, they  prepared  for  their  departure;  but  that  very  morn- 
ing, one  ot  their  cows  came  home  with  an  arrow  sticking  in 
her  flank,  a  sign  that  tlie  Boschemen  had  driven  away  part  of 
their  herd.  In  these  cases,  the  savages  oblige  the  animals 
to  run  as  last  as  they  can;  and  when  any  of  them  are  unable 
to  keep  up  with  the  rest,  they  pierce  it  with  a  dart,  in  con- 
sequence  ot  which  it  falls  down  on  the  road,  and  the  carcase 
is  afterwards  carried  away  by  the  robbers.  The  cow  which 
now  returned  had  been  treated  in  this  manner,  and  served  as 
a  messenger  to  apprise  our  travellers  of  what  had  happened. 
Mr.  Ki.  herer  despatched  some  Hottentots  with  fire-arms,  to 
pursue  the  banditti;  and  in  the  meanwhile  travelled  on  with 
the  remainder  of  the  people.  The  pursuers  fell  in  with  the 
robbers,  at  the  distance  ot  a  day's  journey  beyond  the  hills, 
and  having  recovered  the  property,  reiurned  to  their  friends 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p  Sr*. 


416  Propagation  of  Christianity 

with  seventy-three  out  of  eighty  oxen  which  they  had  sto- 
len.* 

Leaving  the  congregation  under  the  care  of  his  assistant 
Scholtz,  Mr.  Kicherer  hastened  forward  to  the  residence  of 
the  nearest  farmers,  partly  that  he  might  gratify  his  extreme 
longing  for  a  morsel  of  bread,  as  he  had  not  tasted  any  for 
six  months  together.  He  proceeded  forward  with  all  possi- 
ble despatch,  in  company  with  three  of  the  most  serious  of 
his  people,  whose  conversation  on  the  road  was  singularly 
pleasant  and  spiritual,  which  rendered  these  hours  some  of 
the  happiest  he  ever  spent.  Having  at  length  come  within 
sight  of  the  first  farmer's  house,  his  joy  on  approaching  it 
was  inexpressible.  His  first  request  was  for  a  piece  of  bread, 
which  he  immediately  devoured  with  the  keenest  appetite, 
and  with  a  relish  which  it  is  not  easy  for  a  person  to  conceive, 
who  never  experienced  the  want  of  it  for  so  long  a  period. 
Shortly  after,  he  arrived  at  Zak  River,  and  rejoiced  exceed- 
ingly when  he  again  beheld  the  favoured  spot,  where  he  had 
witnessed  so  many  instances  of  the  power  and  grace  of  the 
Redeemer.! 

Having  about  this  time  a  convenient  opportunity  of  visit- 
ing the  Cape,  Mr.  Kicherer  gladly  embraced  it,  as  he  had  con- 
ceived a  plan  of  forming  a  regular  congregation  of  Hotten- 
tots, for  which  purpose  he  stood  in  need  of  a  variety  of  ar- 
ticles, particularly  of  a  good  stock  of  clothes.  On  his  ar- 
rival at  Capetown,  he  received  100/.  from  general  Dundas, 
the  governor,  as  a  reward  for  his  services  in  the  colony;  and 
he  immediately  laid  it  out  in  the  purchase  of  such  articles  as 
^vere  necessary  in  the  settlement.  He  also  received  a  new 
offer  of  the  church  at  Rodezand,  but  he  again  declined  it,  for 
the  sake  of  his  poor  people  at  Zak  River.f 

Having  despatched  his  business  at  the  Cape,  he  hastened 
back  to  his  station  in  the  wilderness;  and  on  his  arrival,  in- 
formed his  people  that  he  had  again  refused  the  living  at 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  35.  X  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  o5. 

t  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  36. 


by  the  London  Missionanj  Society.  417 

Rodezand,  and  assured  them  that  he  would  never  forsake 
them,  provided  they  would  discover  a  spirit  of  industry,  and 
be  more  diligent  than  they  had  formerly  been  in  cultivating 
the  ground,  and  learning  other  useful  employments;  but  he 
added,  that  if  they  should  grieve  him  as  they  had  done  hither- 
to by  their  idleness,  they  might  depend  upon  it,  he  would 
leave  them,  and  accept  of  the  church  at  Rodezand.  The 
poor  i^eople,  in  reply,  promised  every  thing  he  could  desire, 
and  assured  him,  that  in  future  he  should  have  no  cause  to 
complain  of  them.  Mr.  Kicherer,  therefore,  began  immedi- 
ately to  erect  a  more  commodious  building  for  a  church;  and 
the  Hottentots  at  first  assisted  in  forwarding  the  work,  but 
their  natural  indolence  prevailing,  they  soon  became  weary 
of  the  labour.  He  then  repeated  his  former  declaration;  and 
added,  that  he  would  certainly  leave  them  in  eight  days,  un- 
less there  was  an  increase  of  their  diligence.  A  scene  en- 
sued which  Mr.  Kicherer  could  not  afterwards  recollect 
without  much  emotion.  They  began  to  weep,  and  entreat- 
ed him  so  importunately,  that  his  heart  melted  within  him. 
He  then  gave  them  his  word  that  he  would  not  desert  them, 
a  circumstance  which  instantly  changed  their  sorrow  into 
joy.  Many  of  them  clasped  their  arms  around  his  neck;  and 
he  was  convinced  that  they  loved  him  far  more  tenderly  than 
he  had  imagined.* 

Besides  the  church,  which  was  capable  of  containing  eight 
hundred  people,  the  missionaries  erected,  in  this  place,  a 
good  dwelling-house,  consisting  of  several  rooms  on  one 
floor,  the  whole  of  which  was  built  of  stone.  Before  it,  the 
baptized  Hottentots  built  themselves  decent  habitations  in 
the  style  of  the  farmers;  and  at  the  back  of  it,  the  Heathen 
lived  in  small  huts.  Near  the  church;  the  missionaries  had 
an  excellent  garden  for  raising  vegetables;  they  had  also  a 
cattle-yard,  surrounded  with  a  high  wall,  behind  the  houses 
of  the  Christian  Hottentots;  and  on  the  north  side  of  the  riv- 
er,  which  was  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  distant,  were 

•  Miss.  Trails,  vol.  ii.  p,  3<5. 

VOL.  u.  3  G 


418  Propagation  of  Christianity 

their  corn  fields.  The  whole  number  of  mhabitants  amounts 
ed  to  about  six  hundred,  of  whom  eighty  three  were  bapti- 
zed, including  men,  women,  and  children.* 

In  January  1803,  Mr.  Kicherer  took  leave  of  his  beloved 
congregation  at  Zak  River,  with  the  view  of  making  a  visit 
to  Europe,  partly  for  the  restoration  of  his  health,  which  was 
now  considerably  impaired,  and  partly  to  setle  some  impor- 
tant domestic  concerns.  His  parting  with  them  was  very 
aft'ecting.  The  poor  people  wept  bitterly,  and  expressed 
their  apprehension  that  it  was  on  account  of  their  guilt,  and 
because  they  had  not  sufficiently  prized  his  labours,  that  they 
were  now  to  be  deprived  of  them.  Laying  hold  on  his 
hands,  they  declared  they  could  not  let  him  go:  They  said 
they  would  pray  to  God  to  bring  him  back  soon;  they 
thought  they  would  die  if  he  did  not  return.f 

In  his  voyage  to  Europe,  Mr.  Kicherer  was  accompanied 
by  three  of  the  converted  Hottentots,  a  man  named  John, 
and  two  women  called  Mary  and  Martha.  After  arriving  in 
Holland,  they  all  came  over  to  England,  where  the  Hotten- 
tots were  not  only  introduced  to  many  distinguished  charac- 
ters, who  were  pleased  to  express  the  highest  satisfaction 
with  the  progress  they  appeared  to  have  made  in  civilization, 
but  they  were  examined  concerning  their  views  of  religion, 
in  the  presence  of  numerous  congregations,  and  afforded 
serious  people,  of  all  denominations,  the  greatest  delight,  by 
the  simplicity  and  propriety  of  their  answers. J  On  one  of 
these  occasions,  Mary  is  said  to  have  addressed  the  audience 
in  the  following  animated  and  affectionate  manner;  *'  What 
pity  it  is,  what  sin  it  is,  that  you  have  so  many  years  got 
that  heavenly  bread,  and  hold  it  for  yourselves,  not  to  give 
one  little  bit,  one  crumb  to  poor  Heathen!  There  are  so 
many  millions  of  Heathen,  and  you  have  so  much  bread; 
and  you  might  depend  upon  it,  you  should  not  have  less  be- 
cause you  give;  but  the  Lord  Jesus  would  give  his  blessing, 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  57,  46.         f  Ib't*-  ^'o'-  "■  P-  *''• 

t  Ibid.  vqI.  ii.  I'ref.  p. -5.     Evan.  Mag.  vol.  xi.  p.  545,  591;  vol.  xii,  p.  92. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  419 

and  you  should  have  the  more.  You  must  not  think  when 
you  do  something  for  the  poor  Heathen,  you  yhall  have  less 
for  yourselves:  on  the  contrary,  the  Lord  Jesus  is  a  fountain 
always  full;  thousands  after  thousands  might  be  helped  by 
him;  he  is  always  the  same,  yesterday,  to-day  and  forever. 
The  more  you  do  for  others,  the  more  you  shall  be  blessed,— 
the  more  you  shall  have  for  yonr  own  souls.  I  thank  every 
person  v/ho  does  something  for  missionary  work,  or  who 
prays  for  it;  and  I  hope  every  one  will  go  on  to  spread  the 
gospel.  As  the  Lord  Jesus  was  so  good  as  to  wear  a  crown 
of  prickles  for  us,  for  our  sins,  let  us  work  more  and  more 
in  the  dust  at  his  feet,  to  put  on  his  head  a  crown  of  glory. 
O  when  you  know  in  what  a  situation  the  Hottentots  are, 
then  you  will  have  more  compassion  for  them;  and  when  you 
see  that  God  gives  us  such  plenty  here,  that  you  might  give 
to  other  poor  creatures, — help  and  assist  them.  I  am  going 
to  a  far  land,  and  I  suppose  I  will  never  see  this  people  again 
in  this  world;  so,  people  of  God,  farewell.  I  shall  meet  you 
again  before  the  throne  of  glory;  and  those  who  know  not 
God^  I  admonish  them  to  come  to  Jesus;  then  we  shall  all 
meet  at  the  right  hand  of  God.  The  last  thing  I  would  say, 
O  pray  for  the  poor  Heathen!"* 

After  this  agreeable  visit  to  England,  Mr.  Kicherer  and 
the  three  Hottentots  returned  to  Holland,  where  they  werp 
unavoidably  detained  for  several  months,  as  they  could  pro- 
cure no  suitable  conveyance  to  the  Cape.  At  length,  after 
a  long  trial  of  their  patience,  they  sailed  from  the  Texel  in 
October  1804,  together  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Vos,  and  several 
other  missionaries,  who  were  destined  for  South  Africa. 
Only  four  days,  however,  after  their  departure,  there  arose 
a  most  dreadful  storm.  About  midnight,  Mr.  Kicherer, 
whose  room  waS  near  the  cabin,  perceived  a  great  confusion 
among  the  sailors,  in  consequence  of  their  having  discovered 
a  light.  It  was  now  supposed  that  they  were  between  the 
Scilly  Islands  and  the  Lizard  Point,  so  that  they  expected 

*  Evan,  Mag.  vol.  xii.  p.  94. 


420  JPropagatioJi  of  Christianity 

every  moment  to  be  wrecked  among  the  rocks.  The  ves- 
sel now  rose  up  to  heaven,  and  then  sunk  into  the  abyss; 
the  waves  dashed  over  the  deck,  and  even  broke  into  the 
rooms.  It  was  a  most  dreadful  scene.  The  darkness  of 
the  night,  the  roaring  of  the  sea,  and  the  howling  of  the 
storm,  all  contributed  to  render  it  alarming  beyond  descrip- 
tion. The  ship  resembled  a  house  that  was  plundered.  All 
the  articles  that  were  moveable  were  turned  upside  down, 
and  many  of  them  were  broken  to  pieces.  After  repeatedly 
uniting  in  prayer,  they  all  agreed  to  sit  down  on  the  floor, 
that  tl>ey  might  die  in  each  others  arms.  Besides  the  mis- 
sionaries, there  was  a  gentleman,  together  with  his  lady^ 
a  child,  and  a  maid-servant  on  board;  and  it  was  a  most  mov- 
ing spectacle  to  behold  the  terrified  mothers  carrying  their 
children  to  the  place.  Now  they  looked  at  their  children, 
then  at  their  husbands;  now  at  their  friends  again,  then  to- 
wards heaven,  praying  for  deliverance.  Mr.  Kicherer  had 
the  child  of  Mrs.  Vos  in  his  hands.  Mary,  the  Hottentot, 
sat  next  to  him,  and  was  very  composed.  The  surgeon 
came  down  to  enquire  the  hour;  it  was  then  half  past  one. 
Each  blow  of  the  waves  was  violent  beyond  conception,  and 
was  expected  to  be  the  last.  Every  moment  the  vessel 
seemed  as  if  it  were  shattering  into  a  thousand  pieces.  They 
were  now  like  persons  sitting  under  sentence  of  death,  and 
expected  every  moment  the  execution  of  it.  The  captain, 
almost  every  quarter  of  an  hour,  was  sending  down  to  in- 
quire what  o'clock  it  was,  so  ardently  did  he  long  for  the 
break  of  day.  The  surgeon  came  down  about  half  past  four 
and  said  that  all  the  three  masts  would  be  cut  down  as  soon 
as  it  was  light,  if  they  were  still  safe.  About  six  in  the 
morning,  the  wind  shifted,  and  became  more  moderate,  and 
they  began  to  entertain  some  hope  of  deliverance.  The 
storm,  however,  lasted  for  three  days  longer;  but  they  were 
all  preserved  in  safety,  and  at  length,  after  a  voyage  of  three 
months,  tbey  arrived  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  in  January 
1805.-* 

*  Miss.  Trims,  vol.  ii.p.  176,  218,  231. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  421' 

After  remaining  some  time  at  Capetown,  Mr.  Kicherer  set 
out  for  Zak  River,  the  scene  of  his  former  labours;  and  on 
the  way,  he  was  met  by  Mr.  Botman,  a  pious  man,  to  whose 
care  he  had  committed  the  congregation  during  his  visit 
to  Europe.  From  him  he  received  the  painful  intelligence, 
that  many  of  the  people  had  been  obliged  to  leave  the  settle- 
ment on  account  of  the  excessive  drought  which  had  now 
pjevailed  for  about  three  years,  and  which  rendered  it  im- 
practicable for  them  to  procure  sustenance  for  themselves 
and  their  cattle.* 

After  Mr.  Kicherer's  arrival  at  Zak  River,  the  congrega- 
tion continued  to  suffer  much  distress  from  the  continuance 
of  the  drought,  the  unproductive  nature  of  the  soil,  and  the 
frequent  plunderings  of  the  Boschemen.  Many  of  them 
had  already  been  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  a  different  part  of 
the  country,  and  the  rest  seemed  ready  to  perish  for  want  of 
the  necessaries  of  life.  Mr.  Kicherer  and  his  assistant,  Mr. 
Vos,  used  their  utmost  endeavours  to  keep  the  congregation 
at  this  place,  but  all  their  efforts  were  in  vain.  Their  pros- 
pects became  every  day  darker  and  darker.  Neither  cattle 
nor  corn  was  to  be  purchased  at  any  price,  partly  on  account 
or  the  scarcity  which  prevailed  throughout  the  whole  coun- 
try, and  partly  because  they  were  afraid  to  send  for  tlie  ar- 
ticles they  needed,  for  fear  of  being  plundered  by  the  Bos- 
chemen, who  had  already  murdered  two  of  the  baptized 
Hottentots,  f 

Such  was  the  melancholy  situation  of  the  congregation  at- 
Zak  River,  when  Mr.  Kicherer  received  an  invitation  from 
governor  Jansens  to  come  to  Capetown,  and  undertake  the 
pastoral  charge  of  one  of  the  vacant  churches  in  its  vicinity. 
He  accordingly  acceded  to  the  proposal;  but  on  his  arrival 
at  that  place,  he  found  it  in  the  possession  of  the  British. 
Sir  David  Baird,  however,  the  commander-in-chief,  having 
approved  of  the  measure,  appointed  him  to  the  charge  of 
Graaf  Reinet,  the  church  which  was  nearest  to  the  settlement 

•  Evan.  Mag.  vol.  xJv.  p.  565.  t  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  iii,  p.  159. 


422  Propagation  of  Christianity 

of  Zak  River;  and  Mr  Kicherer  accepted  of  it,  on  condi- 
tion that  he  should  retain  his  connection  with  the  Mission- 
ary Society,  and  continue  the  superintendent  of  the  mis- 
sion.* 

As  this,  however,  did  not  diminish  the  difficulties  of  the 
congregation  at  Zak  River,  the  remains  of  them  resolved  to 
follow  tlieir  beloved  teachers  to  Graaf  Reinet,  for  a  season, 
as  this  seemed  to  afford  them  the  only  prospect  of  deliver- 
ance. In  August  1806,  they  accordingly  left  that  place  un- 
der the  care  of  Mr.  Vos;  and  on  their  arrival  at  Graaf  Reinet, 
the  greater  part  of  them  were  placed  as  servants  or  labourers 
in  the  families  in  the  neighbourhood,  or  they  lived  in  the  vil- 
lage itself,  by  which  means  they  not  only  improved  in  indus- 
try, but  still  enjoyed  the  means  of  religious  instruction. 
Here  Mr.  'Kicherer  preaches  the  gospel  not  only  to  the  Dutch 
settlers  in  the  town,  and  in  an  extensive  district  of  country, 
but  also  to  many  of  the  Hottentots;  and,  it  is  said,  his  labours 
have  been  attended  with  great  success. f 


ARTICLE  IIL 

Orange  River. 

IN  March  1801,  Mr.  William  Anderson,  who  had  lately 
arrived  at  Zak  River,  set  off  for  the  Orange  River,  with  the 
view  of  making  known  the  gospel  in  that  part  of  the  coun- 
try. He  was  accompanied  by  a  number  of  Bastard  Hotten- 
ttxts,  and,  as  we  have  already  mentioned,  he  was  followed  by 
the  other  missionaries  and  the  whole  congregation  a  few 

*  Evan.  iNIag'.  vol.  xiv.  p.  330. 

t  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  iii.  p.  159,  412.     Ueportof  the  Miss.  Soc  ISOS,  p.  18.     Ibid. 
1809,  p.  13.     Evan.  Mag.  vol-  six.  p.  314. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  423 

weeks  after.*  The  journey  was  not  without  danger,  on  ac- 
count of  the  ravages  of  the  wandering  Boschemen,  who  still 
infested  the  country.  One  evening,  indeed,  Mr.  Anderson 
xuid  his  party  were  surrounded  by  a  number  of  these  savagcsj 
armed  with  bows  and  arrows,  who  followed  them  a  consider- 
able way,  and  remained  in  the  same  place  with  them  at  night; 
but,  next  morning,  they  departed  without  doing  them  any 
mischief.  Our  travellers  had  shot  two  wild  horses  the  day 
before,  and,  by  this  means,  were  able  to  supply  the  poor 
creatures  with  victuals,  a  circumstance  which  probably  con- 
ciliated their  friendship.  After  their  arrival  at  the  Orange 
River,  they  were  frequently  visited  by  others  of  that  wander- 
ing tribe;  and,  one  evening,  a  little  Boschemen  told  them, 
tliat  he  overheard  his  countrymen  deliberating  about  attack- 
ing them  the  same  night,  while  they  were  asleep;  and  in  fact, 
the  bold  audacious  behaviour  of  the  savages  gave  some  coun- 
tenance to  the  report,  Mr.  Anderson  and  his  companions 
therefore  slept  out  of  doors  that  night,  with  their  guns  load- 
ed; and  in  the  morning  the  Boschemen  altered  their  conduct 
materially,  and  after  obtaining  three  sheep,  they  went  away 
in  the  course  of  the  day.f 

Having  fixed  on  the  Riet  Fountain  for  a  settlement,  Mr. 
Anderson  and  his  fellow  missionaries  soon  found  themselves 
surrounded  by  crowds  of  difierent  people,  Corannas,  Nama- 
quas,  Hottentots,  Bastard  Hottentots,  and  Boschemen,  to^ 
gether  with  their  numerous  herds  and  flocks.  Here  they  be- 
gan their  labours  with  their  usual  zeal,  and  with  the  most 
pleasing  prospect  of  success.  A  great  desire  prevailed 
among  the  people  to  learn  the  things  which  belonged  to 
their  everlasting  peace.  Numbers  of  them  used  to  hear  the 
word  with  tears  in  their  eyes,  and  they  were  even  so  impres- 
sed with  convictions  of  their  sinfulness  and  misery,  that,  at 
times,  it  was  impossible  to  proceed  with  divine  \\Qrship, 

i  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  ]>.  345. 
*  Sec  page  408. 


424  Propagation  of  Christianiti/ 

Many  of  them  also  manifested  a  strong  desire  to  learn  to 
read,  and,  in  a  short  time,  some  of  them  made  considerable 
progress.  Their  external  behaviour  was,  in  general,  as  good 
as  could  be  expected;  and  as  yet  none  of  them  manifested 
the  smallest  opposition  to  the  gospel.* 

As  the  people,  however,  depended  entirely  on  their  cat- 
tie  for  subsistence,  and  as  they  were  obliged  to  remove  with 
them  from  spring  to  spring,  at  different  periods  of  the  year, 
in  order  to  obtain  pasture  for  them,  this  circumstance  was 
not  only  attended  with  many  inconveniences,  but  materially 
impeded  their  moral  and  religious  improvement.  In  July 
1803,  Messrs.  Anderson  and  Kramer  resolved  to  endeavour 
to  fix  them  in  some  suitable  situation;  and  as  a  favourable 
opportunity  presented  itself  soon  after,  they  made  known 
their  design  to  them,  and  intimated,  at  the  same  time,  that 
if  any  did  not  approve  of  the  place,  they  were  at  liberty  to 
go  elsewhere.  Contrary  to  their  expectation,  all  the  people 
consented  to  the  proposal;  and,  accordingly,  Mr.  Anderson 
proceeded  to  fix  them  at  their  different  stations,  and  to  dis- 
pose of  their  sheep  and  cattle  at  suitable  places,  so  as,  in 
some  measure,  to  meet  their  approbation.  He  also  began  to 
form  them  into  some  kind  of  order,  and  to  introduce  agri- 
culture among  them;  an  attempt  in  which  he  succeeded  be- 
yond his  most  sanguine  expectations,  though  it  was  attend- 
ed with  many  difficulties  and  discouragements,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  indolence  and  inactivity  of  the  people,  as  well 
as  from  the  want  of  rain  in  the  country.f 

In  April  1805,  the  whole  number  of  people  under  the 
care  of  the  missionaries,  amounted  to  seven  hundred  and 
eighty-four,  including  men,  women,  and  children.  Of  these, 
about  eighty  were  able  to  read,  namely,  thirty  adults,  and 
fifty  children;  and  there  were  upwards  of  thirty  of  them,  who, 
for  three  years  past,  had  maintained  a  conversation  becom- 
ing  the  gospel.     A  number  of  them  were  soon  after  baptiz- 

■  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  347;  vol.  ii.  p.  27. 
I  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  347;  vol.  iii.  p.  11.  15. 


bij  the  London  Missionary  Society.  425 

ed,  and  thus  formed  the  beginnmg  of  a  Christian  church  in 
this  desert  land.  At  a  place  about  twenty-four  miles  dis- 
tant from  Klaar  Water,  the  principal  seat  of  the  mission, 
there  was  also  a  school,  which  was  attended  by  about  forty 
children,  and  was  taught  by  one  of  their  own  people.* 

About  this  time  they  were  visited  with  the  small-pox, 
which  made  terrible  ha^'0ck  among  them;  for  sometime  there 
was  a  burial  ever}^  day.  There  now  appeared  a  gloom  in 
cxtry  countenance;  they  began  to  dread  the  approach  of 
death,  and  attended  more  diligently  on  the  worship  of  God 
than  they  had  of  late  done.  Afterwards,  however,  when 
the  disorder  disappeared,  and  the  danger  seemed  to  be  over, 
they  became  as  careless  as  before,  and  neglected  the  means 
of  religious  instruction.!  In  August  1807,  the  small-pox 
again  broke  out  among  them;  and  of  those  who  were  attack- 
ed by  it,  nearly  as  many  died  as  what  recovered.  The  cow- 
pox,  indeed,  was  now  introduced  among  them;  and  it  tend- 
ed greatly  to  promote  the  practice  of  vaccination,  that  seve- 
ral who  had  been  inoculated  slept  with  those  who  had  the 
small-pox,  and  yet  not  one  of  them  caught  the  disorder;  a 
fact  which  furnishes  a  further  confirmation,  in  addition  to  in- 
numerable other  incontestible  proofs,  of  the  complete  effi- 
cacy of  vaccination,  in  different  climates,  and  under  the 
greatest  variety  of  circumstances.^ 

Besides  their  stated  congregations,  the  missionaries  were 
surrounded  by  numerous  hordes  of  Corannas  and  Bosche- 
men,  who  occasionally  received  instruction  from  them.  They 
\vere  exposed,  however,  to  various  alarms  and  dangers,  par- 
ticularly from  the  quarrels  and  wars  of  the  rebel  Caffres  with 
the  Briquas  and  other  tribes,  and  though  their  conduct  had 
impressed  the  savages  with  a  considerable  degree  of  rever- 
ence and  respect  for  them,  yet  they  were  often  harassed  with 
reports  of  their  designing  to  attack  the  settlement.  On  this 
Account,  Mr.  Anderson  was  obliged,  in  March  1809,  to  pro- 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  iii.  p.  11,  13.  2ir),  233.  f  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  16. 

+  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  216.     Kvaii.  Mai^.  vol.  xvi.  p.  444. 

vol..  H.  3  H 


426  Propagation  of  Christianity 

ceed  to  Capetown,  a  journey  of  thirty-one  days,  with  the 
view  of  soliciting  the  advice  and  protection  of  the  British 
government;  and,  in  the  meanwhile,  he  left  the  congrega- 
tion under  the  care  of  Mr.  Janz,  who  had,  for  a  considera- 
ble time  past,  been  associated  with  him  in  the  mission.  His 
departure  was  marked  by  expressions  of  the  utmost  affec- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  people,  who  considered  the  plunder- 
ing and  destruction  of  their  habitations,  and  even  their  own 
personal  danger,  as  evils  far  inferior  to  the  loss  of  their  be- 
loved teachers.  * 


ARTICLE  IV. 
Namac^ua  Land, 

IN  October  1804,  Mr.  Christian  Albrecht  and  Mr.  Abra- 
ham Albrecht,  two  brothers,  together  with  Mr.  John  Syden- 
faden  from  the  Netherland  Missionary  Society,  sailed  from 
Holland  for  South  Africa,  in  the  same  vessel  as  Mr.  Kiche- 
rer  and  the  three  Hottentots.  Having  arrived  at  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  they  remained  there  a  considerable  time,  but 
at  length  they  set  off  for  Namaqua  Land,  the  scene  of  their 
future  labours,  and  after  a  very  tedious  and  difficult  journey, 
in  the  course  of  which  they  suffered  not  a  little  from  the 
want  of  provisions,  they  reached  that  dreary  country.  Here 
they  met  with  a  very  favourable  reception  from  the  inhabi- 
tants, and  in  a  short  time  they  had  a  very  considerable  num- 
ber of  them  under  their  care.  It  now  became  necessar}'-  to 
build  a  place  of  worship,  as  it  was  dangerous  to  meet  in  the 
open  air,  on  account  of  the  many  venomous  creatures  which 

•  Report  of  the  Miss.  R(?c.  1810,  p.  8, 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society*  427 

abound  in  that  part  of  the  country.  One  evening,  as  Chris- 
tian Albrecht  was  preaching,  a  serpent  twined  itself  round 
his  leg,  but  providentially  it  left  him  without  doing  him  any 
injury.* 

The  country,  they  were  apprehensive,  was  too  dry  and 
barren  to  produce  corn,  so  that  they  expected  to  be  obliged 
to  live  entirely  without  bread;  but  they  were  in  hopes,  that, 
from  their  vicinity  to  several  fountains,  they  would  be  so  far 
preserved  from  the  effects  of  excessive  drought,  as  to  be  able 
to  maintain  their  catde,  which  would  be  their  principal  mean 
of  subsistence.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before  they  re- 
moved further  into  the  interior,  to  a  place  near  the  Warm 
Bath;  but  even  there  they  found  that  they  could  not  con- 
veniently accommodate  all  their  congregation,  who  lived 
chiefly  by  their  cattle,  and  therefore  it  was  agreed  that  one 
of  them  should  accompany  such  of  the  people  as  might,  from 
time  to  time,  find  it  necessary  to  remove  to  other  places  for 
pasturage.  Mr.  Christian  Albrecht  accordingly  undertook 
this  laborious  task.  In  one  of  his  excursions  among  the 
neighbouring  savages,  he  found  the  country  such  a  frightful 
wilderness,  so  rocky,  and  so  mountainous,  that  is  was  not 
possible  to  travel  with  a  waggon,  and  even  scarcely  on  horse- 
back. He  was  obliged  to  seek  the  poor  miserable  creatures 
in  the  most  dismal  holes  and  dens,  and  even  when  he  ap- 
proached they  fled  from  him,  so  that  he  was  under  the  ne- 
cessity  of  sending  a  messenger  before  him  to  tranquillize 
their  minds.  They  hid  themselves  for  fear  of  their  neigh- 
bours who  were  at  war  with  them;  but  on  learning  his  de- 
sigri  in  visiting  them,  they  received  him  with  cordiality,  and 
heard  his  instructions  with  pleasure.l 

In  October  1808,  the  congregation  had  increased  to  seven 
hundred,  and  some  months  after,  it  is  stated,  that  the  num- 
ber of  names  which  had  been  inserted  in  the  church  books, 
amounted  to  about  twelve  hundred,  including  men,  women, 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  176;  vol.  iii.  p.  23,  25. 
flbid.  y.;l.  iii.  p.  3o,  163,  243,  246, 


4-28  Propagation  of  Christia?iity 

and  children.  Of  these,  about  three  hundred  resided  at  the 
Warm  Bath;  the  rest  lived  at  the  distance  of  from  half  a  day 
to  three  days  journey.  There  were  generally  about  two  hun- 
dred present  at  public  worship  on  the  Lord's  day;  many  of 
them  appeared  to  be  under  serious  impressions  of  religion; 
a  number  of  them,  it  was  hoped,  were  truly  converted  to 
the  Saviour;  some  of  these  were  already  baptized  and  admit- 
ted to  the  Lord's  Supper;  and  there  were  about  twenty  who 
could  read  tolerably  well.  The  missionaries  had  made  some 
attempts  to  raise  cotton,  and  had  succeeded  very  well,  a  cir- 
cumstance  which  promised  to  be  of  great  advantage  to  the 
settlement.  In  a  political  point  of  view,  the  situation  of  the 
Namaquas  was  materially  improved  by  means  of  their  la- 
bours. All  those  who  were  under  their  care  agreed  in  say- 
ing, "  We  are  now  in  a  far  happier  condition  than  we  were 
before  the  arrival  of  our  teachers;  till  then  there  was  nothing 
but  fighting,  and  bloodshed,  and  murder."  One  of  them 
expressed  himself  in  the  following  manner,  *'  At  my  time 
of  life,  I  often  wonder  I  have  not  been  killed;  but  since  our 
teachers  came  hither,  I  can  sleep  in  safety,  for  now  there  is 
peace  amongst  us.* 

In  July  1810,  Mr.  Abraham  Albrecht,  who  had  been  ill 
of  a  consumption  for  a  considerable  time  past,  died  on  his 
way  to  Capetown,  after  suffering  many  hardships  by  the  way. 
His  widow,  however,  returned  to  Namaqua  Land,  to  re- 
sume the  station  she  had  so  usefully  occupied,  in  teaching 
the  women  and  girls  to  knit,  &c.  But  it  was  not  long  be- 
fore the  whole  of  the  neighbouring  country  was  involved  in 
confusion  and  distress,  in  consequence  of  the  depredations 
of  the  robber  known  by  the  name  of  the  African.  Mr. 
Christian  Albrecht  applied  for  protection  and  assistance  to 
the  constituted  authorities  in  that  part  of  the  country;  and  as 
they  were  not  able  to  afford  him  the  aid  which  was  necessa- 
^'j",  he  was  obliged  to  go  to  Capetown,  in  order  to  obtain  a 

•IS.  vol.  iii.  p.  244,  311,  313.   Report  of  the  Missionary  Society,  1811, 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society,  429 

supply  of  arms  and  ammunition  for  his  people,  that  they 
might  defend  themselves,  in  case  they  should  be  attacked  by 
this  monster  and  his  murderous  band.  His  excellency  the 
governor  readily  complied  with  his  request,  and  had  the 
goodness  to  direct  that  twenty  fire-locks,  two  hundred  pounds 
of  gunpowder,  and  four  hundred  pounds  of  lead,  should  be 
delivered  to  him.  Having  received  these,  Mr.  Albrecht  set 
off  on  his  return  to  Namaqua  Land,  together  with  four  other 
missionaries,  who  had  lately  arrived  from  Europe.*  In 
travelling  through  the  wilderness,  their  dangers  and  suffer- 
ings were  truly  affecting.  Sometim.es  they  were  W'ithout 
water  for  themselves  and  their  cattle;  their  oxen  weakened 
by  want  of  sustenance,  refused  to  draw  their  waggons;  many 
of  them  died  of  thirst,  and  some  of  their  sheep  were  destroy- 
ed by  the  wild  beasts.  They  themselves  were  without  bread 
for  nearly  a  month,  and  were  in  danger  of  perishing  in  the 
desert,  had  not  a  man  named  Cornelius  Kok,  who  was  in. 
formed  of  their  distress,  at  length  sent  men  and  oxen  to  their 
relief.  By  the  way,  they  met  with  a  considerable  number 
of  the  congregation  who  had  been  driven  from  the  Warm 
Bath,  and  from  them  they  learned  that  the  African  still  rob- 
bed and  persecuted  the  inhabitants  of  that  part  of  the  coun- 
try.! 

Mr.  Sydenfaden  was  at  first  associated  with  the  tv.-o  AI- 
brechts,  in  the  mission  to  Great  Namaqua  Land  and  super- 
intended a  branch  of  it  about  one  day's  journey  from  the 
Warm  Bath;  but,  in  consequence  of  the  difficulty  of  procur- 
ing subsistence  for  himself  and  his  congregation,  he  obtained 
permission  from  government,  to  settle  with  them  on  the 
Camies  Mountain,  in  Little  Namaqua  Land.  The  number 
of  people  under  his  care  amounted  to  between  four  and  five 
hundred,  among  whom  there  were  some  who  appeared  to 
have  received  the  truth  in  the  love  of  it.     Upwards  of  thirt)- 

*  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  iii.  p.  418,  424,  427,  4S2,  443. 
t  Report  of  the  Miss-  Soc.  181:1,  p.  1_j  31. 


430  Propagation  of  Christianity 

of  them  were  able  to  read;  and  others  were  anxious  to  attain 
this  important  branch  of  knowledge.  A  young  man  of 
good  dispositions  and  abilities  was  appointed  schoolmaster; 
and  two  others,  each  of  them  about  forty  years  of  age,  were 
chosen  to  be  clerks,  for  the  purpose  of  reading  the  Holy 
Scriptures  morning  and  evening,  and  praying  with  the  peo- 
ple when  the  missionary  was  absent.  It  appears,  however, 
that  about  the  beginning  of  1811,  some  of  the  African's 
gang  paid  a  visit  to  this  part  of  the  country;  and  after  shoot- 
ing one  of  the  Hottentots,  forced  open  the  house  of  Mr. 
Sydenfaden,  -who  was  then  absent,  and  plundered  and  de» 
stroyed  whatever  they  could  find  in  it.* 


SECTION  IIL 

East  Indies, 
Article  I.     Vizagapatnam. 

IN  February  1804,  Messrs.  William  T.  Ringeltaubc, 
George  Cran,  and  Augustus  Des  Granges,  sailed  from  Eng- 
land for  the  East  Indies,  with  the  view  of  establishing  a  mis- 
sion on  the  coast  of  Coromandel.  On  their  arrival,  howev- 
er, some  difference  of  opinion  arose  among  them  with  regard 
to  the  place  where  they  should  settle.  Ringeltaube  prefer- 
ing  the  south  of  India,  ^vhile  Cran  and  Des  Granges  pro- 
ceeded to  the  Northern  Circars,  and  fixed  their  residence  at 
Vizagapatnam,  a  town  containing  about  twenty  thousand  in- 
habitants, with  many  large  villages  in  the  neighbourhood.f 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ili.  p.  165,  309,  427. 

I  Evaii.  Mag.  vol.  xii.  p.  140.    Miss,  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  208,  261,  397, 403. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society,  431 

Besides  applying  to  the  study  of  the  Telinga  language, 
which  is  understood  over  a  very  extensive  tract  of  country, 
the  missionaries,  soon  after  their  arrival,  began  to  preach  to 
their  countrymen,  and  to  the  descendants  of  Europeans  who 
resided  in  the  town.  In  this  they  were  encouraged  by  many 
of  the  gentlemen  in  the  settlement;  and,  in  consequence  of 
an  application  from  the  judge,  the  governor  in  council  was 
pleased  to  allow  them  ten  pagodas  a  month,  for  performing 
divine  service  in  the  fort.  They  also  began  to  distribute 
rice  among  the  poor  once  a  week;  and  it  was  not  long  be- 
fore there  were  a  hundred  and  fifty  of  these  miserable  ob- 
jects, who  regularly  received  an  allowance  from  them.  In 
this  measure,  they  were  kindly  assisted  by  the  ladies  and 
gentlemen  in  the  town,  who  resolved  to  advance  certain  sums 
monthly  for  this  purpose,  and  to  place  them  under  their 
management  and  care.* 

Impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  education  of  the 
youth,  the  missionaries  drew  up  an  address  and  a  plan  for  a 
charity-school,  which  they  presented  to  the  gentlemen  and  la- 
dies in  the  town,  who  most  readily  adopted  the  proposal,  and 
contributed  nearly  thirteen  hundred  rupees  for  the  building, 
besides  some  monthly  subscriptions  for  the  support  of  the 
scholars.  Soon  after  the  school  was  opened,  it  was  attended 
by  between  thirty  and  forty  children.  Among  them  there 
were  some  of  all  the  different  casts,  from  the  Brahmin  to  the 
Sooder;  and  several  of  them  came  from  the  distance  of  ten, 
twenty,  and  even  thirty  miles,  on  purpose  to  attend  it.  The 
principal  object  for  which  the  Hindoo  youth  came  to  the 
school  was  to  learn  the  English  language;  and  though  they 
were  professed  Pagans,  yet  they  willingly  listened  to  the 
truths  of  Christianity,  and  even  requested  permission  to  form 
a  class  for  reading  the  Old  and  New  Testament.  They 
werc  taught  by  a  native  schoolmaster,  who  was  born  of 
Christian  parents,  and  whom  the  missionaries  brought  with 
them  from  Madras.! 

•  M'ss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  443,  447. 

;•  llcijoi-t  of  the  Miss,  Soc.  1807.  p.  21.    Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ill.  p.  131, 


432  Propagation  of  Christianity 

The  missionaries  were,  at  the  same  time,  careful  to  em- 
brace every  opportunity  of  conversing  with  the  natives  on 
the  subject  of  religion.  They  were  daily  visited  by  Hin- 
doos of  different  casts,  and  even  by  many  of  the  Brahmins. 
Some  professed  to  approve  of  their  doctrine,  acknowledging 
that  it  was  better  than  their  own.  Others  affirmed,  that  it 
was  all  one;  he  who  adhered  strictly  to  the  religion  of  his 
own  country,  would  be  accepted  of  God.  *'  Heaven!"  said 
a  Brahmin,  with  more  elegance  than  truth,  "  Heaven  is  like 
a  palace  that  has  many  gates,  at  which  people  may  enter. 
Variety  is  pleasing  to  God;  with  a  number  of  other  similar 
arguments.* 

In  May  1808,  the  missionaries  obtained  an  assistant  of 
great  importance  to  them,  in  the  person  of  Anundarayer,  a 
Christian  Brahmin,  of  about  thirty  years  of  age.  He  was 
formerly  an  accountant  in  a  regiment  of  Tippo  Saib's;  and 
after  the  death  of  that  prince,  he  held  a  similar  appointment 
under  an  English  officer.  Being  anxiously  concerned  about 
the  salvation  of  his  soul,  he  was  advised  by  an  aged  Brahmin 
to  repeat  a  certain  prayer  four  hundred  thousand  times. 
This  he  did  in  a  pagoda,  v*'ith  many  fatigueing  ceremonies, 
and  he  even  exceeded  the  number  prescribed.  Finding  no 
satisfaction  in  these  exercises,  he  resolved  to  return  to  his 
family,  and  to  live  as  before.  On  his  way  home,  he  met 
with  a  Roman  Catholic  Christian,  who  conversed  with  him 
on  religious  subjects,  and  gave  him  two  books  in  the  Telin- 
ga  language,  concerning  the  Christian  faith.  Having  read 
these  with  much  attention,  he  was  struck  with  what  they 
contained,  and  resolved  to  make  more  particular  inquiry 
concerning  the  nature  of  the  gospel.  His  friends  were  much 
alarmed  at  the  new  views  he  had  embraced,  and  offered  him 
a  sum  of  money,  and  the  sole  management  of  the  family  es- 
tate, if  he  would  not  disgrace  them  by  becoming  a  Christian. 
But  Anundarayer  declared,  that  he  valued  the  salvation  of 
his  soul  more  than  all  the  goods  of  this  \vorld;  and  having 

*  Report  of  tlie  Miss,  Soc.  1807,  p.  22.    Bliss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  442. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  433 

applied  to  a  Roman  Catholic  priest,  he  was  further  instruct- 
ed, and  baptized  by  him.  Hearing  afterwards,  however, 
that  at  Tranquebar  there  was  another  large  Christian  con- 
gregation, schools  for  children,  and  the  Bible  in  the  Tamul 
language,  as  well  as  many  other  books,  and  no  images  in 
their  church,  which  he  had  always  much  disliked,  and  even 
disputed  with  the  Roman  Catholic  priests.  Pleased  with 
this  information,  he  came  thither;  and  though  Dr.  John,  the 
Danish  missionary,  viewed  him  at  first  with  extreme  suspi- 
cion, yet,  after  some  conversation,  he  formed  a  better  opin- 
ion  of  him,  and  at  length  admitted  him  as  a  member  of  the 
congregation.  Our  young  convert  manifested  an  ardent 
thirst  for  Christian  knowledge,  and  an  anxious  wish  to  be 
useful  in  promoting  the  best  interests  of  his  countrymen. 
As  soon  as  he  heard  of  the  mission  at  Vizagapatnam,  he  ex- 
pressed a  great  desire  to  go  thither,  in  order  to  be  employed 
either  in  the  church  or  in  the  school;  for  as  the  Tamul  was 
not  his  mother  tongue,  he  could  not  be  of  so  much  use  at 
Tranquebar,  but  he  wrote  the  Telinga  elegantly,  and  also  the 
Mahratta.  Dr.  John  having  strongly  recommended  him  to 
the  missionaries  at  Vizagapatnam,  they  gladly  accepted  the 
offer  of  the  services  of  one  who  promised  to  be  of  so  much 
assistance  to  them.* 

Having  now  made  considerable  progress  in  the  Telinga 
language,  the  missionaries  had  begun  to  preach  in  it  to  the 
natives;  but  scarcely  had  Mr.  Cran  entered  on  this  important 
part  of  the  work  of  a  missionary,  when  a  period  was  unex- 
pectedly put  to  all  his  labours.  Of  late,  he  had  been  brought 
very  low  by  a  billions  fever;  but  having,  in  some  degree, 
recovered  from  it,  he,  l^y  the  advice  of  his  physician,  under- 
took a  tour  to  the  north.  For  some  time  he  appeared  to 
gain  strength;  but  he  again  grew  worse  at  Chicacole,  a  town 
about  seventy-four  miles  from  Vizagapatnam.  In  the  course 
of  his  journey,  he  was  in  a  pleasmg  state  of  mind,  and  eager- 
ly embraced  every  opportunity  of  making  known  among 

•  Report  of  the  Brit,  and  For.  Ulb.  9,nr.  1811,  App.  p.  79. 
VOL.   II,  o  1 


434  Propagation  of  Christianity 

the  Hindoos,  "  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ."  His 
complaints,  however,  in  the  meanwhile,  made  rapid  pro- 
gress, and  at  length  put  a  period  to  his  valuable  life,  January 
6,  1809.* 

The  place  of  Mr.  Cran  was,  after  some  time,  supplied  by 
the  arrival  of  Messrs.  William  Gordon  and  Richard  Lee, 
two  missionaries,  who  left  England  about  three  years  before, 
by  the  way  of  America,  and  had  been  detained  in  that  coun- 
try in  consequence  of  the  unhappy  differences  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain.  They  had  not,  been  long 
in  India,  when  Mr.  Des  Granges,  to  whose  assistance  they 
came,  v/as  attacked  by  a  billions  disorder,  and  followed  his 
late  colleague  to  the  grave.  During  his  illness,  his  mind 
was  calm  and  serene;  but  he  spoke  little,  owing  to  his  ex- 
treme weakness,  and  the  pain  which  he  suffered.  Poor 
Anundarayer  was  much  affected,  and  begged  to  know, 
whether  the  new  missionaries  would  take  the  same  care  of 
him  as  Mr.  Des  Granges  had  done.  Being  assured  of  this, 
he  burst  into  tears;  and  pressing  the  hands  of  his  dying  fa- 
ther, as  he  called  him,  to  his  lips,  he  asked  him,  if  his  mind 
was  fixed  on  Christ?  To  which  Mr.  Des  Granges  replied 
in  the  affirmative.  Many  others  of  the  natives  surrounded 
his  bed  and  wept.  They  were  all  constrained  to  say,  "  He 
was  a  good  man."  Mrs.  Des  Granges,  and  likewise,  Mr. 
Gordon,  were  lying  ill  at  the  same  time,  in  different  apart- 
ments; and  the  physicians  desired  her  to  be  removed  to  a  sep- 
arate house.  A  few  hours  before  he  expired,  she  was  car- 
ried through  his  chamber,  where,  being  desirous  of  seeing 
each  other  once  more,  they  took  a  last  farewell.  His  chil- 
dren also  were,  at  his  own  request,  brought  to  his  bed-side. 
The  scene  was  affecting  beyond  description.  At  length, 
after  an  illness  of  only  eight  days,  he  breathed  his  last^  July 
12,  1810,  in  the  thirtieth  year  of  his  age.  t 

Previous  to  his  death,  Mr.  Des  Granges  had  laboured 
with  great  assiduity  in  translating  the  New  Testament  into 

*  Miss,  'i'j-ans.  vol.'iii.  P.  i'li)  t  1'>''^1-  '^o^-  •''•  P-  358. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society,  435 

llie  Telinga  language.  On  this  work  he  appears  to  have 
bestowed  much  pains;  and,  in  the  prosecution  of  it,  he  de- 
rived very  material  assistance  from  Anundarayer,  the  Chris- 
tian Brahmin.  It  would  seem,  indeed,  that  tw^o  different 
versions  were  formed  by  them;  one  by  Anundarayer,  who 
translated  from  the  Tamul,  the  other  by  Mr.  Des  Granges; 
but  he,  at  the  same  time,  had  recourse  to  the  version  of 
Anundarayer,  whenever  any  difficulty  occurred;  and  he  de- 
rived great  assistance  from  it,  as  well  as  from  consulting  him- 
self on  all  occasions.  Before  the  commencement  of  his  last 
illness,  he  had  prepared  for  the  press,  the  Gospels  according 
to  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke.  He  had  also  translated  the 
Gospel  according  to  John,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and  the  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthi- 
ans; but  of  these  he  had  written  only  the  first  copy,  which 
would,  of  course,  require  repeated  revisals.*  The  three 
Gospels  have  since  been  printed,  by  the  Baptist  missionaries 
at  Serampore,  who  were  employed  for  that  purpose;  and,  we 
trust,  are  already  in  circulation  through  that  extensive  quar- 
ter of  the  country,  where  the  Telinga  language  is  under- 
stood, t  Mr.  Gordon  is  now  proceeding  with  the  translation 
of  the  New  Testament,  wliile  Mr.  Lee  has  begun  a  version 
of  the  Old.  J 


ARTICLE  IL 

Travancore. 

IN  the  year  1804,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ringeltaube  arrived  in 
India  along  with  Messrs.  Cran  and  D^s  Granges;  but  as  the 
mission  was  originally  destined  for  the   Coromandei   coast, 

*  Report  of  the  Brit,  and  For.  Rib,  Soc.  1811,  App.  p.  17,  116. 

T  Report  of'llie  M'ss.  Soc.  1813,  p,  9.         \  Evan.  Mag-,  vol.  xx.  p.  .')64. 


436  Propagation  of  Christianity 

and  as  he  did  not  approve  of  the  station  which  they  had  cho- 
sen, he  resolved,  that,  while  they  proceeded  to  the  Northern 
Circars,  he  would  direct  his  labours  to  the  southern  part  of 
the  peninsula.  For  some  time,  however,  he  was  undecided 
with  regard  to  the  particular  place  where  he  should  settle- 
but  having  received  the  most  melancholy  accounts  of  the 
deplorable  condition  of  the  Christians  in  the  Tinevelly  coun- 
try, he,  at  length,  resolved  to  fix  his  residence  in  that  dis- 
trict. Here  there  were  about  five  thousand  Christian  con- 
verts, under  the  care  of  thirty  catechists  and  schoolmasters, 
who  were  connected  with  the  Danish  mission;  and  it  was 
said,  that  of  late  they  had  suffered  the  most  grevious  perse- 
cution from  their  Pagan  countrymen,  on  account  of  their 
profession  of  Christianity,  and  that  this  might  easily  have 
been  prevented,  had  a  European  missionary  been  resident 
among  them.* 

In  February  1806,  Mr.  Ringeltaube  proceeded  to  the 
Tinevelly  district,  and  on  his  arrival,  he  found  the  Christians, 
as  they  were  called,  very  numerous,  but  scattered  up  and 
down  the  country  in  the  different  villages.  In  many  of  these, 
they  had  churches,  several  of  which  ^vere  large  and  hand- 
some; but  most  of  them  were  small,  and  some  only  Palmyra 
sheds.  The  reports  of  the  grevious  persecutions  which  they 
had  suffered,  appeared  to  have  been  greatly  exaggerated,  if 
not  wholly  unfounded,  though  Mr.  Ringeltaube  appears  to 
have  had  them  from  a  respectable  quarter.  The  true  cause 
of  all  their  troubles  was  not  their  profession  of  Christianity, 
but  their  refusal  to  bear  the  share  of  the  public  burdens; 
and  when  those  in  power  proceeded  to  punish  them  for  their 
disobedience,  they  raised  a  mighty  outcry  of  persecution, 
while,  in  fact,  it  was  nothing  more  than  what  their  conduct 
justly  merited.  In  general  indeed,  they  were  extremely 
ignorant,  and  could  be  considered  as  Christians  only  in  name. 
In  one  place,  none  of  the  congregation  could  answer  the 
simple  question,  "  What  must  you  do  to  be  saved?"     In 

*  Aliss.  Trans,  vol.  ii.  p.  431,  435;  vol.  iii.  p.  119,  141 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  437 

anotlier  town,  about  three  hundred  people  desired  Mr.  Rin- 
geltaube  to  baptize  them,  but  when  asked  the  reason,  they 
could  not  tell.  *'  For  the  good  of  my  soul,"  the  best  in- 
structed of  them  replied;  but  here  their  knowledge  ended. 
Among  those  who  applied  for  baptism,  one  assigned  the 
following  as  the  reason  of  his  desire:  "  My  two  brothers, 
coming  down  from  a  Palmyra  tree,  received  a  mortal  blow 
from  the  devil  in  their  chests.  I  want  to  be  baptized,  in 
order  to  avoid  a  similar  fate."  On  another  occasion,  a  per- 
son gave  the  following  answer:  "  Formerly,  I  paid  ten  pan- 
chukeram  to  government;  this  year,  the  collector  demands 
twelve;  therefore  I  desire  to  become  a  Christian."  Mr.  Rin- 
gcltaube  informs  us,  that  there  is  a  district  in  that  country 
inhabited  chiefly  by  Mahommedans,  who  had  embraced  the 
faith  of  the  Arabian  impostor,  in  order  to  escape  a  small  tax 
of  about  eighteen  pence  a  year,  which  the  Sanaers  are  ob- 
liged to  pay,  while  the  Moslems  are  exempted  from  it. 
Thus,  for  the  sake  of  that  trifling  sum,  these  people  had 
agreed  to  change  their  religion!* 

As  Mr.  Ringeltaube  was  still  imperfectly  acquainted  with 
the  language,  he  was  not  able  to  examine  the  qualifications 
of  the  candidates  for  baptism,  and  therefore  he  devolved 
this  important  office  on  two  of  the  catechists,  who,  accord- 
ingly, baptized  betv/een  two  and  three  hundred  of  them. 
It  certainly  seems  a  little  strange,  that  he  should  have  adopt- 
ed so  loose  a  system  with  regard  to  a  people,  who,  by  his 
own  account,  were  so  grossly  ignorant  of  the  principles  of 
Christianity,  and  so  destitute  of  every  symptom  of  true  rjli- 
gion.  He  appears,  indeed,  to  have  reckoned  it  enough  if 
the  candidates  for  baptism  were  able  to  repeat  the  Creed, 
the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  words  concerning  the  institution 
of  the  two  Sacraments!  At  this  rate,  the  whole  world  might 
become  Christians,  and  yet  been  as  well  had  they  remained 
Pagans  or  Mahommedans.  f 

*  Misa.  Trails,  vol.  iii.  p.  98,   101,  103,  119,  133,  3r3. 
flbid.  vJ.iii.  p.  117,  118,140. 


438  propagation  of  Christianity 

Through  the  friendly  interposition  of  colonel  Macauley^ 
the  British  resident  at  Cochin,  Mr.  Rmgeltaube  obtained 
permission  to  extend  his  labours  into  the  kingdom  of  Tra- 
vancore.  Since  that  period,  he  has  resided  chiefly  in  that 
country,  and  has  formed  congregations  in  six  or  seven  dif- 
ferent places.  In  November  1810,  the  number  whom  he 
had  baptized  amounted  to  four  hundred  and  twenty-two; 
but,  we  fear,  that  most  of  them  have  little  or  nothing  of 
Christianity  about  them.  The  chief  object  which  many  of 
them  appear  to  have  had  in  view,  in  becoming  Christians, 
was  an  expectation  that  they  would  then  be  exempted  from 
the  public  burdens.  This  idea,  Mr.  Ringeltaube,  indeed, 
was  careful  to  discourage;  and,  at  length,  before  he  would 
baptize  them,  he  made  them  promise  that  they  would  per- 
form the  accustomed  services,  and  obey  the  king  and  ma- 
gistrates as  before.  Several  people  of  high  cast,  both  Hin- 
doos and  Mahomniedans,  intimated  to  him,  that  they  were 
ready  to  become  Christians,  if  he  would  pay  their  debts;  but 
as  he  of  course  declined  so  disinterested  an  offer,  they  never 
called  again.  For  two  hundred  rupees,  he  says  he  might 
have  bought  them  all.* 

Besides  preaching  the  gospel  through  the  country.  Mr. 
Ringeltaube  employed  five  or  six  native  schoolmasters  in 
teaching  the  youth;  for  he  justly  observes,  that  it  is  in  vain 
to  print  and  distribute  Bibles,  if  there  are  none  who  can  read 
them.  He  had  likewise  several  boys  in  training,  who  assist- 
ed him  in  reading,  writing,  and  singing,  one  of  whom  al- 
ways accompanied  him  on  his  preaching  excursions:  he  also 
occasionally  sent  them  into  the  villages,  among  the  scattered 
proselytes,  to  teach  them  the  catechism,  f 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ili.  p.  113,  114,  117:  o7o,  374. 
t  Report  of  the  Miss.  Soc.  1813,  p.  8, 


hy  the  London  Missionary  Society,  439 

SECTION  IF, 

China, 


IN  January  1807,  Mr.  Robert  Morrison  sailed  from  Eng- 
land for  this  country,  with  a  particular  view  to  the  transla- 
tion of  the  Holy  Scriptures  into  the  Chinese  language,  as  a 
preparatory  step  to  the  introduction  of  Christianity  into  this 
vast  empire.*  Previous  to  his  departure,  he  had  received 
some  assistance  in  learning  the  language  from  Yong  Saam 
Tak,  a  native  of  China,  who,  at  the  same  time,  rendered  the 
mission  a  still  more  important  service,  by  transcribing  a 
Chinese  translation  of  a  great  part  of  the  New  Testament, 
from  a  manuscript  in  the  British  museum.  This  valuable 
\vork  was  first  introduced  to  the  notice  of  the  Christian 
world,  by  the  Rev.  William  Moscly,  an  Independent  minis- 
ter in  Northamptonshire,  in  an  excellent  Memoir  on  the  im- 
portance and  practicability  of  translating  and  publishing  the 
Holy  Scriptures  in  the  Chinese  language.  According  to 
him,  it  is  lettered  by  m.istake,  Quatuor  Evangelia  Sinice; 
but  contains  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke,  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles, and  all  the  Epistles  of  Paul,  except  that  to  the  He- 
brews, f  The  manuscript,  however,  was  afterwards  examin- 
ed by  Dr.  Montucci,  a  Chinese  scholar,  who  said  that  it 
neither  contained  the  four  Gospels,  as  it  was  lettered,  nor 
the  Gospel  according  to  Luke,  as  Mr.  Mosely  was  inform- 
ed, but  an  elaborate  selection  from  all  the  Evangelists,  form- 
ing a  Harmony  of  the  Gospels.  In  other  respects,  he  said, 
that  Mr.  Mosely  was  correct  \\  ith  regard  to  the  contents  of 

•  Evan.  Mag-,  vol.  xv.  p.  84. 

f  Mosely's  Memoir  on  the  importance.  Scc.  of  Iranslatinc^  the  Holy  Scriptures 
into  the  Cliinese  bnguag-c,  p.  20. 


440  Fropagation  of  Christianity 

the  work,  excepting  only  that  it  included  the  first  chapter  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  where  it  abruptly  ended,  evi- 
dently owing  to  some  accident.  On  a  blank  leaf  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  volume,  is  the  following  note:  "  This  tran- 
script was  made  at  Canton  in  1737  and  1738,  by  order  of 
Mr.  Hodgson,  who  says,  it  has  been  collated  with  care,  and 
found  very  correct.  Given  by  him  to  sir  Hans  Sloane,  bart. 
in  1739."* 

On  his  arrival  in  China,  Mr,  Morrison  continued  to  prose- 
cute the  study  of  the  language  with  great  assiduity,  under 
the  tuition  of  native  teachers.  One  of  his  assistants  inform- 
ed him,  that  the  translation  which  he  brought  with  him, 
must  have  been  the  work  of  a  native  Chinese,  as  the  style 
was  better  than  he  supposed  any  foreigner  could  have  written. 
Besides  possessing  this  valuable  work,  Mr.  Morrison  has 
made  a, very  considerable  collection  of  Chinese  books,  in 
different  branches  of  literature,  as  Language,  History,  Reli- 
gion, Ethics,  Law,  Astronomy,  Geography,  Anatomy,  and 
Medicine.  He  has  also  compiled  a  Grammar  and  Diction- 
ary of  the  Chinese  language,  which  he,  at  one  time,  pro- 
posed speedily  to  publish;  but  this  he  has  hitherto  delayed, 
and  certainly  with  great  propriety;  as  there  can  be  no  doubt, 
that  the  further  study  of  the  language  will  enable  him  to  make 
great  improvements  on  these  works.  He  sent  to  England, 
however,  a  small  manuscript,  which  has  since  been  printed 
under  the  title  of,  "  Horae  SiniccC,  or  Translations  from  the 
Popular  Literature  of  the  Chinese."! 

In  September  1810,  Mr.  Morrison  sent  to  the  press,  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  taken  from  the  manuscript  which  he 
carried  out  with  him,  and  carefully  collated  by  him  with  the 
Greek  text.  The  following  are  the  terms  on  which  the 
Chinese  printer,  whom  he  employed,  agreed  to  print  it. 

*  Evan.  Mag,  vol.  ix.  p.  445. 

t  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  iii.  p.  340,  381     Report  of  the  Miss.  Soc.  1810,  p.  22. 


by  the  Londori  Missionary  Society.  44  i 

Cuttins^  30,000  characters, 140  dollars. 

Wood  for  the  plates,         20 

Paper,  printing,  and  binding  1000  copies,  361 

521 

This  charge,  indeed,  was  higher  than  is  common  for 
Chinese  books,  on  account  of  the  risk  which  the  printer  ran 
in  printing  for  a  foreigner.  Mr.  Morrison,  however,  was  to 
have  the  plates,  which,  if  they  were  of  good  wood,  accord- 
ing to  the  agreement,  would  strike  off  fifteen  thousand  co- 
pies, before  they  needed  to  be  repaired:  and  thus  the  price 
of  the  subsequent  impressions  would  be  materially  less- 
ened.* 

Since  that  time,  Mr.  Morrison  has  printed  the  Gospel  ac- 
cording to  Luke;  a  small  tract  on  the  Way  of  Salvation; 
and  a  short  Catechism,  containing  the  principles  of  the  Cliris- 
tian  Religion;!  and  by  the  last  accounts  which  have  been 
received  from  him,  he  had  in  the  press,  the  Epistles  of 
Paul  to  the  Romans,  Corinthians,  Galatians,  Ephesians, 
Philippians,  Thessalonians,  Timothy,  and  Titus,  and  also 
the  Epistles  of  Peter  an|bames,  and  a  second  edition  of  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  corrected,  with  the  verses  annexed.^ 

In  China,  the  Christian  religion,  as  propagated  by  the 
Roman  Catholic  missionaries,  has  been  severely  persecuted 
for  the  last  hundred  years;  and  of  late,  a  new  edict  was  is- 
sued against  such  Europeans  as  should  privately  print  books, 
or  preach  the  gospel  to  the  people.  This  proclamation  is 
obviously  directed  against  the  Catholic  missionaries  in  the 
interior  of  the  empire,  and  will  not,  we  hope,  affect  Mr.  Mor- 
rison  at  Macao.  § 

In  1812,  Mr.  William  Mylne  was  sent  by  the  Misssion- 
ary  Society,  to  join  Mr.  Morrison  in  his  labours,  and  we 
trust  he  has  arrived  at  Canton  long  before  now.^[ 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  iii.  p.  457.  f  Ibid.  vol.  iii,  p.  458. 

t  Evan.  Mag-  vol.  xxi.  p.  397.  §  Miss.  Traivs.  vol.  iii.  p.  459. 

t  Report  of  the  Mi»s.  Sue.  1813,  p.  18 

VOL.  u.  3  K 


442  Propagation  of  Christianity 


SECTION  V. 


Dem;\raiia.* 


IN  December  1807,  Mr.  J.  Wray  was  sent  by  the  Mis- 
sionary  Society,  to  Demarara  in  South  America,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  request  of  Mr.  Post,  a  pious  and  respectable 
Dutch  planter  in  that  colony.  Immediately  upon  his  arri- 
val, he  had  an  opportunity  of  beginning  his  labours  among 
the  slaves  of  that  gentleman,  who  amounted  to  about  five 
hundred.  From  the  very  first,  the  negroes  discovered  a  rea- 
diness to  attend  on  the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  Some  peo- 
ple came  from  different  plantations  in  the  neighbourhood,  and 
some  from  a  town  eight  miles  distant.  Mr,  Wray's  pros- 
pects of  success  were  of  the  most  flattering  nature;  and,  in- 
deed, it  was  not  long  before  the  happiest  effects  began  to 
result  from  his  labours.  ScarcelyWday  passed,  but  three 
or  four  of  the  slaves  came  to  him,  to  learn  what  they  must 
do  to  be  saved.  Others  asked  him  important  questions  con- 
cerning the  doctrines  of  religion.  Some  who  used  to  be 
intoxicated  twice  or  thrice  a  week,  now  became  sober;  and 
some  whom  the  whip  could  not  subdue  for  years,  the  gos- 
pel subdued  in  a  few  months.f 

Many  of  the  White  people,  at  first,  made  considerable  op- 
position to  Mr.  Wray's  labours,  and  there  were  even  some 
fears  that  he  might  be  obliged  to  leave  the  country.  But  the 
prejudices  of  the  colonists  began,  in  a  short  time,  to  subside; 

f  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  iii.  p.  219. 

*  Demarara  is  a  river  on  the  coast  of  Surinam  in  South  America, 
about  3  leagues  to  the  west  of  the  town  of  Surinam.  It  has  settlements 
200  miles  up,  and  is  in  lat.  6°  40'  N.  and  long.  ^T"  50'  W. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  443 

and  many  of  them  were  convinced,  by  hearing  him  preach, 
and  by  seeing  the  good  effects  of  his  labours  among  the 
slaves,  that  he  was  rendering  an  important  service  to  the 
country.  One  gentleman  who  was  so  much  displeased  with 
the  attendance  of  his  Negroes,  that  he  would  not  allow  them 
their  usual  portion  of  fish,  now  granted  them  full  liberty  to 
come  and  hear  the  word.*' 

Mr,  Wray  now  opened  a  school  for  teaching  the  Negro 
children  to  read.  It  was  attended  by  a  great  many  of  the 
little  creatures,  and  likewise  by  a  considerable  number  of 
the  adults.  He  also  began  a  catechetical  exercise;  and,  in 
the  course  of  a  few  months,  upwards  of  two  hundred  of  the 
Negroes  learned  Dr.  Watt's  First  Catechism,  and  several 
some  parts  of  the  Assembly's,  some  prayers,  the  ten  com- 
mandments, and  other  passages  of  Scripture.  Indeed,  they 
seemed  never  tired  of  learning.  Some  of  them  spent  their 
dinner  hour  in  this  exercise,  saying  it  was  much  better  than 
eating.  Teaching  them  the  catechism,  however,  was  a  very 
laborious  task,  as  it  was  generally  necessary  to  repeat  the 
answer,  times  without  nun, ber,  before  many  of  them  were 
able  to  remember  it,  especially  those  who  spoke  Dutch.f 

Mr.  Wray's  congregation  increased  so  much,  that  it  soon 
became  necessary  to  erect  a  place  of  worship  for  their  accom- 
modation. The  number  of  people  whom  he  had  an  op- 
portunity of  instructing,  amounted  nearly  to  six  hundred. 
They  were  not,  indeed,  all  able  to  attend  on  public  worship 
at  the  same  time,  but  yet  there  were  generally  about  four 
hundred  present.  Perhaps  a  more  attentive  congregation 
was  never  seen.  Every  individual  hung  on  the  lips  of  the 
preacher,  and  seemed  anxious  to  drink  in  the  word.  A  con- 
siderable number  of  them  appeared  impressed  with  concern 
about  their  souls,  and  a  great  reformation  took  place  among 
them.  The  manager  of  a  neighbouring  estate  declared,  he 
was  astonished  at  the  change  which  had  taken  place  upon 
the  slaves  under  his  charge.     Before  they  heard  the  gospel, 

•  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  ili.  p.  220.  f  Ibid.  vol.  ili,  p.  219,  322,  92^. 


444  Propagation  of  Christianity 

they  were  indolent,  noisy,  rebellious;  now  they  were  indus- 
trious,  quiet,  and  obedient.  Formerly  they  used  to  spend 
three  or  four  nights  a  week  in  drumming,  dancing,  drinking, 
Sec.  to  the  no  small  disturbance  of  the  neighbourhood,  the 
injury  of  their  own  health,  and  the  disabling  themselves  for 
work;  now  they  employed  their  leisure  hours  in  giving  and 
receiving  religious  instructions,  in  prayer  and  praise.  In- 
deed, many  who  once  were  ferocious  as  lions,  had  now  be- 
come gentle  as  lambs.* 

In  April  1809,  the  mission  sustained  a  severe  loss  in  the 
death  of  Mr.  Post,  its  principal  friend  and  supporter.  He 
was  not  only  the  instrument  of  originally  bringing  Mr.  Wray 
to  the  country;  but  though  he  met  with  much  obloquy  ard 
opposition,  on  this  account,  he  persevered  in  his  benevolent 
design,  with  unshaken  resolution.  He  was  looked  upon  by 
many  as  a  fool  and  a  madman;  he  was  charged  with  introduc- 
ing anarchy,  disorder,  and  discontent  among  the  Negroes; 
and  was  even  forbidden  by  authority,  "  to  hold  any  riotous 
meeting  of  slaves  on  his  estate."  He  resolved,  however,  to 
persevere  in  the  path  of  duty,  to  study  the  salvation  of  the 
poor  Negroes,  and  to  leave  the  event  with  God. 

In  the  success  which  attended  the  mission,  Mr.  Post  took 
the  deepest  interest;  but  while  he  beheld  with  delight  the 
power  of  religion  on  the  Negroes  of  others,  he  had  to  la- 
ment, that  his  own  slaves  were,  in  general,  careless  and  un- 
concerned about  their  souls.  Though  he  gave  them  every 
encouragement  to  attend;  yet  few  of  them  came,  either  to 
learn  the  catechism,  or  to  hear  the  word.  When  he  was 
talking  to  them  on  this  subject,  some  of  them  would  say, 
"  Massa,  me  no  jacket,  me  no  hat,  no  shirt  to  attend  church." 
But  though  he  supplied  them  with  such  articles  as  they  need- 
ed, they  did  not  continue  to  attend  long,  and  as  an  apology 
for  themselves  would  say,  *'  Me  no  do  bad;  me  no  thief." 
He  had  the  pleasure,  however,  to  see  a  few  of  them  come, 
and  was  constantly  giving  them  encouragement.    He  would 

»  Miss.  Trans,  vol.  iii.  p.  222,  251. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society,  445 

converse  with  them  in  the  most  aifectionate  manner,  explain^ 
the  Bible  to  them,  and  catechise  them  on  the  truths  of  reli- 
gion. One  day,  during  his  last  illness,  when  one  of  his  old- 
est Negroes,  a  driver  of  the  name  of  Mars,  came  to  see  him, 
he  said  to  him,  "  Mars,  how  are  you?"  The  old  man,  think- 
ing that  he  was  inquiring  what 'the  people  Vvxre  doing,  an- 
swered, "  Picking  cotton,  Massa."  "  I  do  not,"  replied  Mr. 
Post,  "  ask  you  what  you  have  been  doing.  Picking  cot- 
ton is  nothing  to  me  now;  I  have  done  with  that."  He  then 
called  the  old  Negro  to  his  bed-side,  took  hold  of  his  hand, 
and  bade  him  farewell,  exhorting  him  to  attend  the  preach- 
ing of  the  word,  to  come  to  Christ,  and  to  meet  him  at  the 
right  hand  of  God,  telling  him  that  he  must  shortly  die,  and 
that  though  he  had  been  his  master,  there  would  soon  be  no 
distinction  between  them. 

In  promoting  the  great  object  of  the  mission,  Mr.  Post 
spared  no  expence.  Within  little  more  than  a  year,  his 
generous  exertions  in  the  cause  of  religion  cost  him  upwards 
of  one  thousand  pounds  sterling,  a  noble  example  of  Chris- 
tian liberality,  and  exercised  too  at  a  time,  when,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  failure  of  successive  crops,  the  state  of  the 
colony  was  very  discouraging.  In  order,  at  the  same  time, 
to  secure  the  benefit  of  religious  instruction  to  the  Negroes 
after  his  death,  he  secured  to  the  Missionary  Society,  the 
chapel  which  he  had  erected,  together  with  a  dwelling-house, 
a  garden,  and  the  sum  of  one  hundred  pounds  a  year  to  the 
minister.* 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Post,  the  mission  in  Demerara 
continued  to  flourish;  but  the  enemies  of  religion  in  the 
colony,  as  well  as  in  several  of  the  West  India  Islands,  suc- 
ceeded at  length  in  procuring  some  regulations  to  be  passed, 
limiting  the  instruction  of  the  slaves  within  such  hours  as 
amounted  nearly  to  an  absolute  prohibition  of  their  meeting 
for  religious  exercises.     Mr.  Wray  finding  that  such  insur- 

•  Evan  Mag.  vol.  six.  p.  41,  47.  Report  of  the  Miss.  Soc.  1809,  p.  26.  Ibid. 
1810,  p.  26, 


446  Propagation  of  Christianity 

mountable  obstacles  were  thrown  in  the  way  of  his  useful- 
ness, came  over  to  England,  in  order  that  a  respectful  repre- 
sentation of  this  grievance  might  be  made  by  the  Missionary 
Society,  to  the  British  government.  This  was  accordingly 
done,  and  the  result  of  it  was,  that  an  official  letter  was  trans- 
mitted to  the  governor  of  Demerara,  (copies  of  which 
were  also  sent  to  several  other  colonies,)  signifying  the  de- 
termination of  his  majesty's  government,  that  the  slaves 
should  be  allowed  to  meet  every  Lord's  day,  for  instruction, 
from  five  in  the  morning  to  nine  in  the  evening;  and  onotiier 
days,  from  seven  to  nine  in  the  evening,  provided  they*  had 
the  permission  of  their  respective  masters.* 

Having  gained  this  important  object,  Mr.  Wray  returned 
to  Demerara,  and  the  good  effects  ol  the  measure  were  soon 
apparent.  Six  or  seven  hundred  of  the  slaves  usually  at- 
tended his  ministry,  some  of  them  from  a  considerable  dis- 
tance; and  from  thirty  to  fifty  attended  thrice  a  week,  to  leani 
to  read,  and  many  more  who  lived  at  a  distance  taught  each 
other.  But,  of  late,  Mr.  Wray  has  removed  to  the  neigh- 
bouring colony  of  Berbice.  Several  estates  in  that  quarter* 
which  belong  to  the  English  crown,  being  now  under  the 
direction  of  commissioners,  these  gentlemen  applied  to  him 
to  undertake  the  religious  instruction  of  the  Negroes,  a  pro- 
posal to  which  the  Missionary  Society  consented;  in  the 
hopes  of  his  being  there  more  extensively  useful.  His  part- 
ing with  the  poor  Negroes  in  Demerara  was  exceedingly 
affecting,  but  his  place  in  that  colony  will  it  is  hoped  soon 
be  supplied,  f 

Indeed,  Mr.  Da  vies,  whom  they  sent  out  soon  after  the 
establishment  of  the  mission,  to  undertake  the  charge  of  a 
school  which  had  been  instituted  by  some  gentlemen  in  the 
colony,  has  not  only  been  engaged  in  teaching  the  school, 
but  has  regularly  preached  to  the  Negroes.  He  has  lately 
finished  a  large  chapel  at  George  Town,  which  is  attended 

*  Report  of  the  Miss.  Soc-  1812,  p.  9.  40. 

J  Ibid.  181.3,  p.  20.    Evan.  Mag.  vol.xsii.  p. 77. 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society,  447 

by  great  numbers  of  people  of  different  colours,  among 
whom  it  is  said,  there  are  not  fewer  than  a  thousand  Negroes. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  town  contributed  more  than  600/. 
towards  the  building;  and  about  60/-  was  subscribed  by  the 
poor  Negroes,  who  gave  half  a  bit,  (or  two-pence  half- pen- 
ny,) each.  An  Auxiliary  Missiomiry  Society,  including 
people  of  colour  and  slaves,  has  lately  been  formed  at  George 
Town,  whose  subscriptions  amounted  to  80/.* 

•  Ueport  of  tl)e  Miss.  Soc.  l.Slo,  p.  20,  36.    Evan.  Mag.  vol.  xxi.  p.  4.39, 


448  Propagation  of  Christiamty 


CHAPTER  X. 


PROPAGATION  OP  CHRISTIANITY  BY  THE  EDINBURGH 
MISSIONARY  SOCIETY. 


SECTION  i: 

Susoo  Country. 

THE  Edinburgh  Missionary  Society,  consisting  of  min- 
isters and  private  members  of  the  EstabUshed  Church,  and 
of  other  denominations  of  Christians  in  the  town  and  neigh- 
bourhood, was  instituted  in  February  1796.  Soon  after  the 
formation  of  the  society,  they  resolved  to  commence  their 
operations  by  a  mission  to  the  Foulah  country,  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Sierra  Leone,  in  conjunction  with  the  London 
and  Ghisglow  Missionary  Societies,  each  of  which  agreed  to 
furnish  two  missionaries  for  that  purpose. 

In  September  1797,  Messrs.  Henry  Brunton  and  Peter 
Greig,  the  two  missionaries  from  Edinburg,  set  off  from 
that  city,  together  with  Messrs.  Peter  Ferguson  and  Robert 
Graham  from  Glasgow;  and  on  their  arrival  in  London,  they 
were  joined  by  Messrs.  Alexander  Russel  and  George 
Cappe.  They  all  sailed  soon  after  on  board  the  Calypso, 
and  after  a  voyage  of  about  seven  weeks,  arrived  in  safety 
at  Freetown,  Sierra  Leone.  Though  the  mission  was  origi- 
nally destined  for  the  Foulah  country,  yet  this  was  left  sub- 


by  the  Edinburgh  Missionary  Society,  449 

ject  to  alteration,  and  accordingly,  it  was  now  judged  most 
expedient  that  they  should  endeavour  to  establish  three  dis- 
tinct missions,  partly  in  consequence  of  some  unhappy  dif- 
ferences between  Mr.  Brunton  and  several  of  the  other  mis- 
sionaries, and  partly  in  consequence  of  the  Foulahs  being 
ihen  involved  in  war.  It  was  therefore  agreed  that  Messrso 
Russel  and  Cappe,  from  London,  should  go  to  the  Bullam 
shore,  Messrs.  Ferguson  and  Graham,  from  Glasgow,  to  the 
island  of  Bananas,  and  Messrs.  Brunton  and  Greig  to  the 
Ilio  Pongas,  in  the  Susoo  country.* 

Agreeably  to  this  arrangement,  Messrs.  Brunton  and 
Greig  left  Freetown  about  the  beginning  of  1 798,  and  went  to 
Freeport,  a  factory  belonging  to  the  Sierra  Leone  Company, 
situated  near  a  native  town  called  Tugekiring.  Here  they 
staid  about  ten  weeks,  or  rather  they  only  slept  and  took 
their  victuals  at  this  place;  for  they  spent  most  of  the  day 
among  the  Susoos  in  the  neighbouring  town,  with  the  view 
of  learning  their  language.  They  used  to  go  to  Tugekiring 
about  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  stay  as  long  as  they 
could  tind  any  one  to  converse  with.  It  was  a  custom 
among  the  Susoos,  to  kindle  large  fires  in  different  parts  of 
the  town,  and  to  assemble  around  them,  according  to  their 
attachments  or  their  fancy.  Brunton  and  Greig,  too,  had 
their  favourite  fires,  at  which  they  learned  the  language,  and 
talked  to  the  people  as  well  as  they  were  able.  Indeed,  the 
Susoos,  became  fond  of  them,  and  die  missionaries  were  no 
less  attached  to  them.  When  they  happened  to  be  absent 
a  day  or  two,  some  of  the  people  seemed  quite  in  raptures 
when  they  returned.! 

Though  the  inhabitants  of  Tugekiring  were  extremely 
kind  to  them,  yet  the  conduct  of  the  missionaries  appeared 
very  strange  to  them.  Many  of  them  supposed  that  they 
were  deranged;  some  suggested  that  they  were  deceitful, 
but  this  insinuation  gained  but  little  credit  among  them. 

•  Miss.  Mag.  vol.  ii.  p.  473,  503,  505,  522;  vol.  Hi.  p.  137. 

f  MS.  Account  by  Mv.  Brunton,  in  the  AuUior's  poBsess.on,  p.  1. 

VOL.  II.  ^  L 


450  Propagation  of  Christianity 

The  missionaries  spoke  freely  against  the  idolatry  and  vici- 
ous practices  of  the  people,  and  many  seemed  ashamed  of 
tliese  things  when  they  were  present.  They  attempted  to 
teach  some  of  the  old  people  to  read;  and  their  pupils  would 
undoubtedly  have  made  progress,  had  any  thing  been  printed 
in  their  own  language.  Mr.  Brunton  mentions  one  man 
who  learned  the  whole  of  the  alphabet  in  a  single  day.  Dur- 
ing their  stay  at  Tugekiring,  the  missionaries  made  various 
fatiguing  journeys  to  the  neighbouring  villages,  where  their 
general  character  seemed  to  be  well  known.  In  conse- 
quence, however,  of  their  ignorance  of  the  country,  and  the 
wasting  influence  of  the  climate,  they  were  several  times  in 
great  danger  of  perishing  in  the  woods.* 

The  missionaries  had  no  desire  to  leave  Tugekiring,  and 
many  of  the  inhabitants  wished  them  to  stay;  but  to  this  the 
ehief  could  not  be  prevailed  on  to  give  his  consent.  Being 
therefore  obliged  to  leave  this  quarter,  they  wxnt  to  Kondaia, 
a  place  between  thirty  and  forty  miles  further  up  the  river, 
and  took  up  their  residence  under  the  protection  of  Fanti- 
mania,  who  granted  them  a  settlement,  after  it  had  been 
refused  by  every  other  chief  to  whom  they  had  applied;  but 
as  they  could  not  trust  to  his  influence  alone,  they  thought 
it  prudent  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  neighbouring  chiefs,  to 
explain  to  them  their  intentions,  and  to  ask  their  protection. 
Hitherto,  the  chiefs  had  been  very  suspicious  of  their  views; 
but  they  now  promised  to  grant  their  request.f 

Having  now  learned  a  little  of  the  language,  the  mission- 
aries often  talked  to  the  i>eople  about  religion;  but  this  was 
a  subject  on  which  the  natives  did  not  like  to  be  troubled. 
They  tried  to  convince  them  that  all  men  were  sinners,  both 
by  nature  and  practice.  This  the  Susoos  were  not  very 
backward  to  confess;  but  when  the  missionaries  told  them, 
that  it  necessarily  followed  they  themselves  had  sinned,  they 
were  often  disposed  to  deny  the  charge.  The  Mahomme- 
dans,  indeed,  who  visited  Kondaia,  were  not  so  unreasona- 

*  3VIS.  Account  by  Mr.  Brunton,  p.  4.  f  Ibid.  p.  5. 


by  the  Edinburgh  Missionary  Society.  451 

bic;  they  admitted,  that  the  conclusion  was  just.  Some  of 
the  Siisoos,  however,  sent  their  children  to  be  taught  to  read, 
but  the  missionaries  were  obliged  wholly  to  maintain  them.* 
About  the  beginning  of  the  rainy  seasons,  both  the  mis- 
sionaries turned  sick.  Mr  Brunton,  after  bathing  one 
morning  in  the  river,  fainted  in  the  woods,  and  felt  strong 
symptoms  of  fever  about  him;  but  by  means  of  some 
medicines  which  he  used,  the  disorder  abated  in  a  few  days, 
and  he  hoped  it  had  taken  a  favourable  turn.  About  this 
time,  Mr.  Greig,  who  was  much  fatigued  with  sitting  up 
with  him  in  the  night,  began  to  complain;  and  as  he  had  a 
custom  of  lying  down  in  any  place  which  might  strike  his 
fancy,  when  any  thing  was  the  matter  with  him,  Mr.  Brun- 
ton was  afraid  he  might  lie  down  in  this  manner,  and  not  be 
able  to  rise  again.  One  night  the  event  justified  his  fears. 
Having  inquired  for  his  colleague  as  dilligently  as  he  could 
about  the  dusk  of  the  evening,  he  could  hear  nothing  of 
him;  and  therefore  he  asked  Mr.  Welch,  a  slave  trader,  to 
send  his  people  in  search  of  him.  They  found  him  lying 
on  a  bank  of  the  river  unable  to  rise;  and  he  would  un- 
doubtedly have  perished  in  this  situation,  had  not  assistance 
been  sent  to  him.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  fever,  which 
lasted  about  three  weeks;  and  during  the  greater  part  of  that 
time,  he  was  speechless,  or  if  he  did  happen  to  speak  a  little, 
what  he  said  was  no  more  than  sufficient  to  shew  that  he  was 
delirious.  During  Mr.  Greig's  illness,  Mr.  Brunton's  fever 
became  evidently  intermittent.  Between  the  paroxysms, 
he  was  for  the  most  part  able  to  crawl  from  his  own  apart- 
ment to  his  colleague's;  but  as  the  ague  returned  regularly 
every  night,  it  was  not  in  his  power  to  sit  up  with  him.  He 
offered  to  pay  any  of  the  Negro  women  whatever  they  might 
choose  to  demand,  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  procure  goods; 
but  they  always  asked,  whether  he  would  die;  and,  shud- 
dering at  the  thought  of  this,  declined  the  proposal.  Mr. 
Brunton  had  then  no  alternative,  but  to  sit  up  with  him  every 

•  3IS.  Accownt  by  Mr.  EiuiUon,  p.  7. 


452  Propagation  of  Christianity 

evening,  as  long  as  he  was  able,  and  to  rise  in  the  middle  of 
the  night  in  a  burning  fever,  and  to  crawl  into  his  apart- 
ment to  see  how  he  was.  Sometimes  he  found  him  in  a 
very  melancholy  condition.  Often  the  rain  was  pouring  in 
upon  him,  while  he  knew  nothing  of  it;  for  the  house  ad- 
mitted a  deluge  of  water,  both  above  and  below.  Once 
Mr.  Brunton  found  him  fallen  out  of  bed,  and  lying  appa- 
rently motionless  among  the  water,  which  had  come  in  be- 
neath the  walls,  and  overflowed  the  floor.  It  required  all 
the  exertion  he  could  make  to  put  him  into  bed  again;  but 
how  to  secure  him  in  it  was  beyond  his  invention.  He  could 
do  nothing,  but  rise  as  usual,  and  see  how  he  was  doing. 
About  the  dawn  of  day,  Mr.  Brunton  was  astonished  to  see 
him  sitting  in  the  door  of  his  apartment,  under  circumstan- 
ces of  a  very  distressing  nature.  One  of  the  negroes,  how- 
ever, came  in,  and  put  him  into  bed.  At  other  times,  when 
Mr.  Brunton  was  unable  to  rise,  the  natives  found  him  out 
of  bed,  and  trying  to  get  out  of  the  house.  At  length,  how- 
ever, he  became  so  weak,  as  to  be  unable  to  move.* 

Mr.  Brunton  now  began  to  be  much  alarmed  about  him. 
The  boys  who  lodged  with  him  seemed  afraid  of  his  dying, 
and  were  averse  to  sleep  in  the  same  apartment  with  him. 
Indeed,  though  it  was  the  best  in  the  house,  it  was  too  bad 
for  the  meanest  animal  to  sleep  in.  So  long  as  the  weather 
was  dry,  they  had  no  idea  that  it  would  admit  the  water  in 
the  manner  it  did.  They  had  begun,  indeed,  to  get  it  re- 
paired; but  they  were  taken  ill  at  that  very  time.  It  had  no 
M  indows,  but  only  two  holes,  without  either  glass  or  boards. 
The  tornadoes  were  often  dreadful  beyond  description. 
Trees  sufficient  to  crush  their  old  crazy  habitation  were 
blown  down  close  to  it.  The  whole  heavens  seemed  some- 
times in  a  blaze  of  lightning,  while  the  awful  peals  of  thun- 
der added  to  the  horror  of  the  scene.  Several,  if  not  all,  of 
the  boys,  went  and  sought  more  comfortable  lodgings;  but 
poor  Mr.  Greig  could  not  leave  the  house  for  the  most  aw- 

•  MS.  Account  by  Mr.  Brunton,  p.  8, 


by  the  Edinburgh  Missionary  Society.  453 

ful  storm.  One  night,  when  Mr.  Brunton  rose  to  see  how 
he  was,  he  could  discern  no  life  in  him;  and  though  he  could 
not  have  said  positively  that  he  was  dead,  yet  he  was  ra- 
ther inclined  to  think  this  was  the  case.  At  that  time,  he 
could  call  no  one  to  his  assistance;  and  he  was  obliged  to 
lie  down,  and  leave  him  alone;  his  own  fever  distracted  his 
brain.  He  began  to  think  with  much  anxiety,  where  Mr. 
Greig's  corpse  should  be  buried;  but  happily,  in  the  morn- 
ing, he  found  him  alive,  though  he  had  no  hope  of  his  recov- 
ery. "  Few  circumstances  in  my  life,"  says  he,  "have  left 
a  stronger  impression  on  my  mind,  than  those  now  related. 
A  bird,  which  ushered  in  the  day  with  its  melodious  notes, 
is  fresh  in  my  memory.  Indeed,  it  fixed  itself  in  such  a 
happy  situation  every  morning,  that  I  was  sometimes  al- 
most led  to  think  it  was  a  kind  of  messenger  from  heaven, 
sent  to  cheer  me  in  my  dreary  residence."* 

After  Mr.  Greig  had  been  in  the  most  imminent  danger 
for  nearly  three  weeks,  his  illness  suddenly  took  a  favourable 
turn.  As  soon  as  he  could  be  moved,  Mr.  Brunton  got  him 
on  board  a  small  vessel,  and  sent  him  to  a  place  about  forty 
miles  down  the  river;  and  from  thence  he  v/as  conveyed  to 
Freetown.  About  two  months  elapsed  before  Mr.  Brunton 
again  saw  him.  He  then  went  down  to  Freetown,  and  arri- 
ved there  early  one  morning.  The  town  was  perfectly  qui- 
et; but  when  he  came  near  the  house  of  one  of  the  Europe- 
ans, he  heard  a  frightful  groaning.  He  then  began  to  fear 
that  Mr.  Greig  was  in  his  former  melancholy  condition. 
He  walked  about  till  the  settlers  began  to  open  their  doors; 
and  on  entering  this  house,  he  found  Mr.  Greig  lying  very 
poorly;  but  it  was  not  he  who  was  so  ill.  It  was  Mr.  Rus- 
sel,  from  the  London  Missionary  Society.  He  died  about 
midday,  and  was  buried  in  the  afternoon.  Mr.  Cappe,  too, 
was  very  ill  in  the  same  house.  The  missionaries  from 
Glasgow  had  both  died  before  this  time.f 

•  MS.  Account  by  Mr.  Brunton,  p.  14. 
t  Ibid,  p.  IC. 


454  Propagation  of  Christianity 

Mr.  Greig  having  got  a  good  deal  better  in  the  course  of 
the  rainy  season,  returned  again   to  the  Rio   Pongas; '    but 
Mr.  Brunton  remained  at  Freetown,  to  supply  the  place  of 
Mr.  Clark,  the  late  chaplain  of  the  colony.     Mr.  Greig  now 
made  such  progress  in  the   Susoo  language,  that  we  have 
been  informed  by  Mr.  Brunton,  he  spoke  it  as  fluently  as 
English,  and  his  labours,  he  said,  were  like  those  of  an  apos- 
tle.    After  translating  and  explaining  a  passage  of  Scripture 
morning  and  evening,  he  prayed  with  the  family,  which  at 
one  time  is  mentioned  as  consisting  of  about  eighteen  per- 
sons, in  their  own  language.     Besides  this,  he  catechised 
them  twice  a  day  on  the  principles  of  religion,  so  that  by 
this  means  they  began  to  obtain  a  tolerable  knowledge  of  the 
truths  of  the  gospel.  On  the  Sabbath  morning,  the  boys  were 
sent  to  the  town  to  give  notice  to  the  people  to  come  to  public 
worship,  for  Fantimania  had  given  him  a  new  house  to  live 
in,  which  he  had  built  for  himself,  and  which  answered  very 
well  both  for  a  dwelling-house  and  a  church.     The  family 
stood  around,  and  were  examined  by  him,  in  the  presence  of 
the  strangers,  with  regard  to  a  vast  catalogue  of  Susoo  vices, 
which  he  had   collected  during  the  week.     The  surprise 
that  often  appeared  in  the  people's  countenances  when  they 
heard  themselves  condemned  bv  their  children,  was  some- 
what  curious.  After  catechising  tlie  boys,  Mr.  Greig  prayed 
in  the  Susoo  language:  a  discourse  was  then  delivered  to 
them,  after  which  he  concluded  with  prayer.  When  the  whole 
service  was  over,  a  pipe  and  tobacco  were  offered  to  any 
wiio  might  choose  to  stay,  and  such  conversation  was  intro- 
duced, as  seemed  of  a  profitable  nature:  several  were  like- 
wise often  desired  to  stop   to  dinner.     About  thirty  of  the 
natives,  besides  the  family,  regularly  attended  these  meet- 
ings; and  when  any  of  the  constant  hearers  happened  to  be 
absent,  they  usually  made  an  excuse.     They  commended 
the  things  that  were  told  them,  and  said  that  they  believed 
them.     The   conduct  of  several  of  them;   so  far  as   Mr. 

•  MS.  Account  by  Mr.  Brunto.i,  p.  18, 


by  the  Edinburgh  Missiotiary  Society,  455 

Greig  had  an  opportunity  of  knowing,  was  at  least  as 
blameless  as  that  oi'  the  most  of  professed  Christians  in 
this  country.  One  or  two  of  them  seemed  to  be  some- 
what impressed  by  what  they  heard  from  the  Portuguese 
Christians,  several  -of  whom  are  still  to  be  found  in  that 
quarter.  »■ 

jNlr.  Greig  frequently  visited  the  neighbouring  villages, 
and  discoursed  to  the  people  on  the  subject  of  religion.  He 
used  to  take  some  tobacco  with  him,  which  he  divided 
among  those  with  whom  he  conversed.  This  prevented  them 
from  feeling  that  irritation  of  mind,  which  he  was  afraid 
\vould  arise  from  what  he  said;  for  he  used  to  deal  very  hon- 
estly with  them,  and  reprove  them  for  their  sins  in  the  plain- 
est manner.  In  these  labours,  Mr.  Brunton,  who  occasion- 
ally visited  the  Rio  Pongas,  took  a  part:  Sometimes  Mr. 
Greig  acted  as  his  interpreter;  and  sometimes  he  himself  at- 
tempted to  address  the  Susoos  in  their  own  language.  In 
this  manner  they  preached  the  gospel  in  all  the  villages  in  the 
neighbourhood.  Sometimes  the  people  asked  them,  Why 
they  did  not  baptize  them  like  the  Portuguese?  and  appear- 
ed willing  to  be  baptized.  But  this  was  a  measure  about 
which  they  had  determined  not  to  be  hasty.  Indeed,  they 
never  had  sufficient  ground  to  think  that  any  of  them  were 
duly  convinced  of  the  evil  of  sin,  or  that  they  received  the 
truth  in  the  li>ve  of  it.  There  was  reason  to  fear  that  their 
attention  to  the  Sabbath,  and  their  laying  aside  several 
things  of  which  the  missionaries  disapproved,  proceeded 
chiefly  from  their  kindness  to  them,  and  not  from  the  influ- 
ence of  religion  on  their  heart. f 

Such  was  the  state  of  the  mission,  when  a  period  was  un- 
expectedly put  to  the  valuable  life  of  Mr.  Greig,  under  cir- 
cumstances of  a  peculiarly  affecting  nature.  In  January  1800, 
only  a  few  days  after  Mr.  Brunton  had  parted  with  him,  se- 
ven men  of  the  Foulah  nation,  v/ho  were  travelling  through 
Uie  country,  came  to  pay  him  a  visit.     Mr.  Greig  treated 

•  MS.  Account  of  Mr.  Crimton,  p.  19,        f  ^^id,  p.  23. 


ASG  Fropagation  of  Christianity 

them  with  the  greatest  kindness;  and  with  the  view,  nO  doubtj 
of  recommending  the  gospel  to  them,  he  amused  them  by- 
shewing  them  a  number  of  European  articles  which  he  had 
in  his  possession.  In  this  manner,  they  spent  the  evening 
very  cheerfully  together;  and  as  a  further  expression  of  friend- 
ship, he  allowed  three  of  them  to  sleep  in  his  house.  This 
act  of  kindness,  however,  proved  fatal  to  himself.  The  bar- 
barians, impelled  by  an  ardent  desire  of  the  articles  he  had 
shown  them,  rose  in  the  night,  and  murdered  their  friendly 
host,  by  cutting  his  throat  with  a  razor.  Some  of  the  boys 
who  were  entrusted  to  his  care,  were  in  the  house  at  the 
time,  but  they  were  all  asleep  except  one,  who  was  so  fright- 
ened when  he  saw  the  Foulahs  begin  to  execute  their  bloody 
purpose,  that  he  endeavoured  to  conceal  himself  as  quietly 
as  possible.*  Fantimania,  who  had  taken  Mr.  Greig  under 
his  protection,  was  extremely  sorry  at  his  death,  and  he,  to- 
gether with  some  others  of  the  Susoo  chiefs,  endeavoured  to 
apprehend  the  murderers,  and  it  was  reported  that  they  had 
taken  two  of  them  in  the  Foulah  country.  Several  persons 
of  that  nation  were  detected  carrying  away  his  property  about 
the  time  he  was  murdered.  They  were  put  in  irons,  and 
carried  to  Freeport;  the  Susoos  were  so  enraged  at  them, 
that  it  was  with  difficulty  they  were  prevented  from  falling 
upon  them,  and  putting  them  to  death.f 

Previous  to  the  death  of  Mr.  Greig,  the  Edinburgh  Mis- 
sionary Society  had  sent  Mr.  Robert  Alexander  to  join  him 
in  his  labours  among  the  Heathen;  but  before  his  arrival  at 
Sierra  Leone,  that  excellent  young  man  was  no  more.  Be- 
ing discouraged  by  this  circumstance,  Mr.  Alexander  re- 
solved to  remain  for  the  present  at  Freetown,  and  to  endea- 
vour to  render  himself  useful  in  the  colony.  But  finding 
that  the  climate  did  not  agree  with  his  health,  and  seeing  but 
little  prospect  of  success,  he  soon  after  left  the  country,  and 
returned  to  Britain.^ 

•  Miss.  Mag.  vol.  v.  p.  360.  f  MS.  Account  by  Mr.  Brunton,p.  27'^ 

\  Dick's  Sermon  before  the  Edinburgh  Miss.  See.  1801,  p.  39. 


by  the  Edinburgh  Missionary  Society,  457 

In  the  meanwhile,  Mr.  Brimton,  whose  constituti6n  had 
been  materially  impaired  in  Africa,  was  also  obliged  to  leave 
the  country.  After  his  arrival  in  Scotland,  his  health  was 
in  some  degree  restored,  and  at  the  desire  of  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society,  as  it  is  now  called,  he  compiled  and  printed 
the  following  works  in  the  Susoo  language,  with  the  view  of 
facilitating  the  labours  of  future  missionaries  in  that  country: 
A  Grammar  and  Vocabulary  of  the  Susoo  language;  A  Spell- 
ing book  for  the  instruction  of  the  Susoos,  with  ii  transk  ti^.n 
of  the  Church  Catechism;  a  Catechism  in  the  Susoo  and 
English;  A  second  Catechism;  a  Third,  or  an  Historical 
Catechism;  Three  Dialogues,  the  first  on  the  advantage  of 
letters,  the  second  on  the  absurdity  of  the  religioa ..  o^^iiiions 
of  the  Susoos;  and  the  third  on  the  comparative  excellence 
of  the  Mahommedan  and  the  Christian  religion;  Christian 
Instructions  for  the  Susoos,  or  an  Abridgement  of  the  His- 
tory and  Doctrines  of  the  Bible.  This  may  justly  be  con- 
sidered as  a  new  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  Susoo  country, 
Kever  before  was  any  book  written,  much  less  printed,  in 
the  native  languages  of  the  Western  parts  of  Africa.* 

Mr.  Brunton's  health  being  at  length  in  a  considerable 
degree  re-established,  he  prepared  to  set  off  on  a  new  mis- 
sion to  the  countries  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Caspian 
Sea.  Of  this  mission  we  shall  now  proceed  to  give  an 
account. 


SECTION  11. 

Tartar  V. 

IN  April  1802,  the  Rev  Henry  Brunton  and  Mr.  Alex- 
ander Paterson  were  sent  by  the  Edinburgh  Missionary  Soci- 
ty,  on  an  exploratory  mission  to  the  countries  lying  between 

•  Proceeding's  of  the  Society  for  Missions  to  Aft'ica  and  the  East,  vol  i 
VOL.  n.  5  M 


453  Propagation  of  Christianity 

the  Caspian  and  the  Black  Seas.     Having  prcxieeded  by  the 
way  of  Petersburg,  they  met  with  so  many  difficulties  and 
discouragements  on  their  arrival  in  that  city,  that  they  al- 
most despaired  of  obtaining   liberty  to  travel  through  the 
Russian  empire;   but  they  at  length,  unexpectedly,  found  a 
friend  in  the  person  of  M.  NovassilzolT,  a  nobleman  in  the 
conlidence  of  the  emperor,  and  a  lord  of  his  bed-chamber. 
Through  his  means,  they  immediately  obtained  the  counte- 
nance and  approbation  of  government.  Passports  were  grant- 
ed them,  with  full  liberty  to  travel  through  the  empire,  and 
to  settle  in  any  part  of  Tartary  they  might  think  proper;  post 
horses  were  ordered  for  their  use;  private  letters  of  introduction 
were  given  them;  and  an  open  letter  was  written  by  the  no- 
bleman now  mentioned,  recommending  them  to  the  protec- 
tion and  attention  of  all  officers  in  the   country,  civil  and 
military.     Under  thessc  auspicious  circumstances,  the  mis- 
sionaries proceeded  on  their  journey,  and  were  every  where 
treated  with  kindness  and  respect.     The  magistrates  of  the 
places  through  which  they  passed,  were  forward  to  assist 
them;  and  many  private  individuals  likewise  shewed  them 
the  utmost  hospitality.     Having,  at  length,  arrived  in  Tar- 
tary, they  resolved  to  take  up  their  residence  in  a   village 
named  Karass,   containing  upwards  of  five  hundred  inhabi- 
tants, all  of  whom  were  Mahommedans.     It  was  situated 
on  the  east  side  of  the  largest  of  the  five  mountains  called 
Besh-tow,  in  about  43°  North  latitude,  and  61°  East  longi- 
tude.* 

Judging  it  indispensably  necessary,  not  only  to  their  own 
comfort,  but  to  the  success  of  the  mission,  that  they  should 
be  able  to  supply  themselves  with  the  necessaries  of  life,  in- 
dependent of  the  natives,  they  wrote  to  M.  Novassilzoff, 
their  generous  friend  at  the  Russian  court,  acquainting  him 
with  the  situation  they  had  chosen,  and  soliciting  from  the 
emperor,  a  grant  of  land  and  certain  other  privileges,  rela- 
tive to  the  ransoming  of  slaves  from  the  Tartars;  particular- 

•  Religions  Monitor,  vol.  i.  p.  55;  vol.  ii.  p.  192;  vol.  vii.  p.  565. 


by  the  Edinburgh  Missionary  Society.  4^9 

ly  that  they  should  have  a  right  to  them  until  they  were  twen- 
ty-three  years  of  age,  with  the  view  of  training  them  up  in 
the  principles  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  instructing  them 
in  the  useful  arts  of  life.  To  this  request,  they  received  a 
most  gracious  answer  from  his  imperial  majesty,  who  was 
pleased  not  only  to  grant,  but  highly  to  approve  of  their 
proposals.* 

Encouraged  by  these  favourable  circumstances,  the  Edin* 
burgh  Missionary  Society,  in  April  1803,  sent  out  a  new 
reinforcement  of  missionaries,  namely,  Andrew  Hay,  John 
Dickson,  John  Hardie,  Douglass  Cousin,  and  Charles  Eraser, 
several  of  whom  were  married,  together  with  the  family  of 
Mr.  Brunton,  consisting  in  all  of  fifteen  persons.  On  their 
arrival  at  Petersburg,  they  met  with  the  kindest  reception 
from  his  excellency  M.  NovassilzofF,  and  other  friends  in 
that  city.  Having  received  letters  of  recommendation  to  the 
governors  of  the  different  provinces  through  which  they 
were  to  pass,  together  with  a  government  courier  and  inter- 
preter, they  set  off  for  Karass;  and  after  a  journey  of  about 
ten  weeks,  they  arrived  hi  safety  at  that  place.f 

In  the  meanwhile,  Brunton  and  Paterson  had  been  dili- 
gently employed  in  learning  the  Tartar  language,  which  dif- 
fers from  the  Turkish  chiefly  in  this,  that  the  latter  is  en- 
riched with  numbers  of  words  from  the  Arabic  and  Persic. 
Having  written  and  circulated  several  short  addresses  on  the 
subject  of  religion,  they  excited  a  great  deal  of  conversation 
concerning  the  claims  of  Christ  and  Mahommed,  through- 
out Circassia  and  the  neighbouring  parts  of  Tartary.  Some 
of  the  effendis  or  doctors  frankly  confessed,  that  they  were 
unable  to  answer  the  arguments  of  the  missionaries,  but  still 
they  shewed  no  inclination  to  embrace  the  truth,  and  were 
even  averse  to  enter  into  any  kind  of  discussion,  concerning 
the  evidences  of  their  religion.^  The  priest  of  the  village, 
named  Abdy,  was  particularly  thoughtful;  his  mind  was 

*  Relig.  Moil.  vol.  i.  p.  79.  f  Tbid.  vol,  i.  p.  151,  155}  193,  279,  557- 

i  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  27B,  ^58. 


460  Propagation  of  Christianity 

sometimes  so  perplexed,  that  he  could  not  sleep;  he  even 
acknowledged  to  the  missionaries  the  truth  of  Christianity, 
but  vet  Jhe  was  afraid  to  renounce  Mahommedanism,  as  he 
said,  that  should  he  do  so,  they  would  soon  see  his  head  up- 
on a  pole.  It  was  extremely  difficult,  indeed,  to  form  a  cor- 
rect opinion  of  his  character  and  views.  Sometimes  he 
spoke  like  a  zealous  Mahommedan;  at  other  times  like  a 
serious  Christian,  One  day,  in  talking  with  some  people 
who  V  ere  connected  with  the  missionaries,  he  advised  them 
to  read  the  Bible  carefully,  and  to  satisfy  themselves  as  to 
its  truth,  while  they  were  young.  "As  for  me,"  said  he, 
**  1  am  a  poor  old  miserable  man.  I  know  not  what  to  be- 
lieve. I  cannot  say  that  I  am  either  of  the  one  religion  or 
the  other.  I  stand  between  the  two,  and  am  distracted  with 
doubts  and  uncertainty."  At  another  time,  when  speaking 
of"  me  cheerfulness  with  which  they  should  obey  the  will  of 
God,  he  said,  "  Jesus  Christ  hath  shed  his  blood  for  you, 
and  why  should  you  grudge  to  do  thus  much  for  him?" — 
When  conversing  with  the  missionaries,  he  spoke  in  a  si- 
milar style;  but,  it  was  said,  he  had  been  heard  to  declare, 
it  would  have  been  well  for  him  had  he  never  seen  the  New- 
Testament.  He  travelled  through  the  whole  country,  visit- 
ing the  doctors  and  effendis,  in  order  to  obtain  answers  to 
the  objections  which  the  missionaries  raised  against  his  creed; 
but  instead  of  having  his  difficulties  removed,  his  statement 
of  them  rather  tended  to  excite  doubts  in  the  minds  of  some 
of  his  learned  brethren.  He  himself  possessed  a  sound 
judgment,  was  eloquent,  very  inquisitive,  and  rather  of  a 
suspicious  temper.  Though  in  the  early  period  of  his  life, 
he  might  have  received  his  religious  sentiments  without 
much  examination,  yet  now  nothing  but  the  strongest  evi- 
dence could  induce  him  either  to  embrace  new  opinions,  or 
renounce  his  old  principles.  Still,  however,  through  fear 
of  the  chiefs,  and  the  love  of  this  world,  he  continued  to  ex- 
ercise the  otiicc  of  a  priest  among  his  countrymen.  He 
seemed,  indeed,  to  have  persuaded  himself,  that,  on  account 


by  the  ^Edinburgh  Missionary  Society.  461 

of  the  peculiar  circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed,  God 
would  not  condemn  him  for  professing  a  religion  which  he 
did  not  believe.* 

In  the  summer  of  1804,  the  plague  began  to  make  its  ap- 
pearance in  the  neighbourhood  of  Karass;  but  as  the  Ma- 
hommedans,  from  their  abuse  of  the  doctrine  of  predesti- 
nation, seldom  think  of  going  out  of  the  way  of  that  dread- 
ful disorder,  or  using  any  precautions  against  it,  so  they  were 
at  great  pains  to  conceal  its  approach  both  from  the  mission- 
aries and  the  Russians.  Some  of  the  chiefs  even  threatened 
to  put  any  person  to  death,  who  should  inform  the  mission- 
aries of  it;  and  when  the  Russian  general  sent  some  officers, 
with  a  party  of  Cossacks,  to  inquire  concerning  it,  the  Tar- 
tars positively  denied  that  they  knew  any  thing  about  it, 
though  at  that  very  moment  it  was  raging  in  a  village  at  no 
great  distance.  To  add  to  the  general  distress,  war  now- 
broke  out  between  the  Russians  and  the  Kabardians.  Many 
of  the  former  were  in  various  places  murdered  by  the  latter; 
and  though  they  repeatedly  came  to  an  agreement,  yet  the 
barbarians  were  so  regardless  of  their  oaths,  that  they  broke 
them  the  first  opportunity.  These  disastrous  events  could 
not  fail  to  create  the  missionaries  much  anxiety  and  distress. 
Every  day  brought  them  new  and  alarming  reports.  The 
whole  family,  men,  women,  and  children,  sometimes  slept 
with  their  clothes  on,  ready  to  fly  in  case  of  danger;  and 
more  than  once,  the  dread  of  an  immediate  attack  drove 
them  to  the  woods.  On  one  occasion,  a  plundering  party 
of  Kabardians  carried  off  three  of  their  horses;  and,  it  was 
said,  they  expressed  a  strong  desire  to  get  the  native  chil- 
dren into  their  possession.  In  consequence  of  these  circum- 
stances, the  missionaries  judged  it  ejipedientto  leave  Kara§s 
for  the  present,  and  to  retire  to  Georghievsk,  a  Russian  fort, 
about  thirty-two  versts  distant.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to 
conceive  the  concern  which  the  inhabitants  of  the  village 

•  Relig.  Mon.  vol.  i.  p.  279,  358;  vol.  ii.  p.  116;  vol.  iii.  p.  421,  vol.  iv,  p.  t50, 
vol  V.  p.  380.  vol,  vi.  p.  428. 


462  Propagation  of  Christianity 

manifested  at  their  departure.  Nine  Tartars,  with  carts^ 
went  with  them  to  the  fort,  and  Islam  Gerry,  the  suhan, 
who  had  uniformly  shewn  himself  their  warm  and  decided 
friend,  accompanied  them  almost  the  whole  of  the  way.* 

To  aggravate  these  calamities,  the  missionary  family  suf- 
fered most  severely  from  the  ravages  of  disease  and  death. 
In  the  course  of  little  more  than  twelve  months,  no  fewer  than 
six  of  them  were  carried  to  the  grave,  namely,  Mr.  Cousin, 
Mr.  Hardie,  Mr.  Hay,  Mrs.  Hay,  Mrs.  Paterson,  both  of 
them  very  useful  women,  and  a  child  of  Mr.  Dickson's. 
Such  severe  and  successive  strokes  could  not  fail  to  be  deep- 
ly felt,  both  by  the  missionaries  themselves,  and  by  their 
friends  at  home;  but  it  was  not  long  before  others  were 
found  to  supply  the  ranks  of  those  who  had  fallen. f 

In  May  1805,  the  society  sent  out  four  new  missionaries 
to  Tartary,  namely,  John  Mitchell,  Robert  Pinkerton, 
George  M'Alpine,  and  James  Galloway;  two  of  whom,  pre- 
vious to  their  departure  had  learned  the  art  of  printing;  and 
besides  other  useful  articles,  they  took  with  them  a  printing 
press,  and  a  font  of  Arabic  types,  which  is  the  character 
generally  used  in  that  country.  J  On  their  arrival  atKarass^ 
whither  the  other  missionaries  had  again  returned,  they  lost 
no  time  in  erecting  the  press,  and  in  employing  that  power- 
ful engine  for  the  propagation  of  Christianity  in  the  country. 
The  first  work  which  they  printed,  was  a  small  tract,  in  the 
Turkish  language,  against  Mahommedanism,  written  by  Mr. 
Brunton,  who  appears  to  have  possessed  a  very  correct  know- 
ledge of  that  language.  As  a  proof  of  this,  it  is  not  unwor- 
thy of  notice,  that  many  alledged,  that  the  tracts,  circulated 
by  the  missionaries,  were  not  written  by  any  of  themselves, 
but  must  have  been  the  work  of  some  Turk,  whom  they 
employed  for  this  purpose.  Others  insinuated,  that  Mr.  Brun- 
ton was  not  an  Englishman,  as  he  pretended,  but  some  rene- 
gado  Turk.  Upon  the  publication  of  this  little  work,  it  crea- 

•  Relig.  Mon.  vol.  li.  p.  467.    t  l^'d.  vol,  ii.  p.  194, 469}  vqI,  i.ij,  73,  156,  23*. 
%  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  189. 


by  the  Edinburgh  Missionary  Society.  463 

ted  no  small  sensation  in  the  country,  particularly  among  the 
cffendis.*     One  who  had  visited  the  missionaries  a  conside- 
rable time  before,  with  the  view  of  converting  them  to  the 
Mahommedan  faith,  was  not  only  shaken  in  his  sentiments, 
but  was  so  troubled  in  his  mind,  that,  for  some  nights  he 
was  scarcely  able  to  sleep.    He  had  travelled  through  Syria, 
Arabia,  Egypt,  and  other  countries;  and  was  one  of  the  most 
learned  and  respectable  doctors  in  all  that  quarter.    At  first, 
he  was  extremely  bitter  against  Christianity,  but  after  he  be- 
came acquainted  with  the  missionaries,  his  violence  abated; 
and,  for  some  time  past,  he  had  been  so  very  friendly  to 
them,  that  some  of  the  more  zealous  Mahommedans  threat- 
ened to  kill  him  on  account  of  his  attachment  to  them.   Se- 
veral other  eftendis,  of  the  first  rank  in  the  country,  made 
no  secret  of  their  suspicions  respecting  the  truth  of   their 
own  religion. f 

Agreeably  to  the  plan  which  tliey  had  proposed  to  the 
Russian  government,  the  missionaries  began,  at  an  early  pe- 
riod, to  ransom  some  of  the  Tartars,  who  were  in  a  state  of 
slavery,  particularly  some  young  persons,  with  the  view  of 
training  them  up  from  their  early  years  in  the  principles  of 
religion,  and  teaching  them  the  useful  arts  of  life,  by  which 
means,  they  hoped  Christianity  would  be  most  effectually 
propagated  in  the  country.^     Several  of  the  ransomed  now 
professed  to  embrace  the  gospel;  and  as  their  conduct  fully 
corresponded  with  their  profession,  they  were  solemnly  bap- 
tized in  the  name  of  Christ.  §    Among  others  who  embraced 
Christianity,  Katagerry,  the  son  of  one  of  the  neighbouring- 
chiefs,  deserves  particular  notice.     He  was  lineally  descen- 
ded from  the  Khans  of  the  Crimea,  and  was  allied  to  some 
of  the  principal  families  in  the  East.     Having  become  ac- 
quainted with  Mr.  Brunton,  soon  after  the  missionaries  ar- 
rived in  the  country,  he  early  formed  a  particular  attachment 

*  Eelig.'Mon.  vol.  iv,  p.  115,  273;  vol.  v.  p.  48, 
t  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  193;  vol.  iv.  p  273,  394. 

t  Ibid.  vol.  ii,  p.  11.5;  vol.  iii.  p.  470;  vol.  iv  p.  151;  vol.  v.  p.  89.. 

')  Ibid.  vol.  iv.  p.  IIG;  vol.  v.  p.  273;  vol.  ^  i  p.  43. 


464  Propagation  of  Christianity 

to  him.  Interested  by  his  fine  appearance,  his  superior  ta- 
lents, and  his  engaging  manners,  Mr.  Brunton,  on  the  other 
hand,  was  eager  to  instruct  him  in  the  principles  of  Chris- 
tianity; and  though  he  had  been  educated  by  a  priest,  it  was 
not  long  before  the  ingenuous  youth  perceived  the  vast  su- 
periority of  the  gospel  of  Christ  to  the  religion  of  Mahom- 
med.  Having,  at  length,  openly  avowed  his  belief  of  Chris- 
tianity, he  was  baptized  by  the  missionaries;  and,  from  that 
period,  he  was  stedfast  in  the  profession  of  it,  notwithstand- 
ing the  persecution  he  suffered  from  his  relations,  and  the 
derision  with  which  he  was  loaded  by  his  acquaintance. 
Some  of  the  chiefs  even  threatened  to  kill  him,  unless  he 
should  return  to  the  faith  of  his  ancestors;  on  other  occa- 
sions, they  endeavoured  to  gain  him  by  the  liberality  of  their 
promises;  but  neither  promises  nor  threatnings,  neither 
harsh  nor  gentle  treatment,  made  any  impression  upon  him. 
Katagerry,  however,  was  not  merely  steadfast  in  his  adhe- 
rence to  the  Christian  faith;  he  was  also  zealous  in  spreading 
it  among  his  countrymen.  He  lost  no  opportunity  of  recom- 
mending it  to  their  attention;  he  boldly  defended  it  when  it 
was  attacked;  he  argued  even  with  the  mollahs  and  effendis, 
and  laboured  to  expose  their  absurd  opinions,  and  their  wick- 
ed practices,  to  the  view  of  the  poor  deluded  people.  This  in- 
teresting youth  afterwards  entered  into  the  Russian  service; 
but  though,  by  this  means,  he  was  separated  from  the  mis- 
sionaries, he  still  retained  a  strong  attachment  to  them;  and 
wherever  he  went,  was  eager  to  spread  the  knowledge  of 
Christianity.* 

It  has  already  been  stated,  that  the  missionaries  had  ob- 
tained, from  the  Russian  government,  a  grant  of  land,  soon 
after  their  arrival  in  the  country;  and,  at  their  desire,  a  per- 
son was  now  sent  to  Karass,  to  measure  off  the  ground  which 
they  had  chosen,  amounting  in  all  to  six  thousand  dessatinesf 

•Relig',  Mon.  vol.  i.  p.  279,  392;  vol.  ii.  p.  115;  vol.  iv.  p.  149,  152:  vol.  v.  p.  SS, 
421:  vol.  vi.  p.  95,  187,  471;  vol.  vii.  p  229,  270;  vol.  x.  p.  313i  vol  si.  p.  289, 4lS. 

f  A  dessatine  contains  117,600  English  square  feet. 


by  the  Edinburgh  Missionary  Society.  465 

Of  this,  a  topographical  description  was  transmitted  to  the 
minister  of  the  interior  at  St.  Petersburg,  with  a  request,  that 
certain  privileges,  which  were  deemed  essential  to  the  pros- 
perity of  the  mission,  might  be  conferred  upon  them.  With 
the  view  of  forwarding  this  important  measure,  it  was  found 
necessary  for  one  of  the  missionaries  to  visit  that  city.  Ac- 
cordingly, Mr.  Mitchell  proceeded  thither  in  May  1806,  and 
happily  succeeded  in  obtaining  all  the  immunities  which  they 
desired.  By  one  article,  it  was  declared,  that  they  should 
be  exempted  from  all  personal  and  landed  taxes  and  charges 
whatever,  for  the  space  of  thirty  years;  that,  at  the  expira- 
tion  of  that  period,  they  should  pay  yearly  fifteen  copecks* 
for  each  dtssatine  of  land  fit  for  cultivation;  that,  in  future, 
they  should  be  subject  to  no  other  public  charges  and  im- 
posts whatever;  and  that  they  should  be  forever  exempted 
from  civil  and  military  service,  and  also  from  military  quar- 
ters. By  another  article,  it  was  provided,  that  the  internal 
afiairs  of  the  settlers,  respecting  religion,  the  management 
of  their  land,  their  property,  and  their  police,  should  always 
be  subject  to  their  own  direction,  or  that  of  a  committee 
chosen  by  them;  and  that  this  committee  should  have  the 
power  of  granting  passports  to  all  members  of  the  settle- 
ment, who  wished  either  to  travel  into  the  interior  of  the 
empire,  or  to  go  abroad.  This  last  was  a  privilege  which 
had  never  been  granted  to  any  foreign  colonists  but  them, 
selves.  The  exemption  from  taxes  for  thirty  years  was  dou- 
ble the  period  that  any  other  settlement  enjoyed;  and  while 
the  United  Brethren  at  Sarepta  pay  for  every  dessatine  of 
land  they  have,  whether  good  or  bad,  the  missionaries  at  Ka- 
rass  are  to  pay  only  for  those  parts  which  are  fit  for  cultiva- 
tion, t 

In  April  1809,  the  missionaries  received  a  message  from 
a  Sonna  prince,  requesting  them  to  send  som.e  persons  to 
instruct  his  people  in  the  principles  of  the  Christiiui  religion. 

f  Relig.  Mon.  vol.  iv.  p.  153,  Sll,  "49. 
*  Aboiit  sixpence  sterling. 
VOL.  n.  r>  N 


466  Propagation  of  Christianity 

The  Sonna  country  lies  about  seven  days  journey  from  Ka- 
rass,  and  is  said  to  contain  upwards  of  fifty  villages  or  towns, 
and  about  two  hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  who,  it  seems, 
are  professed  Christians.  They  believe,  we  are  told,  in  one 
God,  and  in  Jesus  Christ,  as  their  only  King  and  Saviour. 
They  pray  that  God  would  bless  them  for  Christ's  sake,  and 
continue  to  them  the  privileges  which  their  forefathers  en- 
joyed. They  baptize  their  children  four  or  five  days  after 
their  biith,  by  washing  them  all  over  the  body.  They  de- 
vote the  Sabbath  tb  the  purposes  of  religion;  and  when  they 
swear,  they  wish  that  they  may  be  turned  to  the  left  hand  of 
Christ  at  the  day  of  judgment,  should  their  oath  be  false. 
In  their  churches,  they  have  images,  some  of  which,  they 
say,  were  formed  by  the  power  of  God.  In  one  of  them, 
there  is  the  image  of  a  young  horse,  which,  according  to 
them,  was  produced  in  this  miraculous  manner.  They 
have  likewise,  in  their  places  of  worship,  a  number  of  large 
books,  which  their  priests  read,  but  do  not  pretend  to  explain, 
their  religious  services  consisting  chiefly  of  singing  and  pray- 
ing. Their  priests  are  allowed  to  marry;  and  when  they 
officiate  in  public,  they  are  arrayed  in  long  garments,  richly 
ornamented  with  silver  and  gold.  They  inoculate  their 
children  with  the  small-pox,  on  the  crown  of  their  head, 
!From  these  circumstances,  the  missionaries  concluded,  that 
the  Sonnas  were  Greek  Christians,  and  that,  probably,  they 
had  once  belonged  to  the  Georgian  church.  They  had  long 
been  anxious  to  visit  them,  with  the  view  of  learning  more 
particularly,  the  state  of  religion  among  them,  and  in  the 
hope  of  being  useful  to  them.  Mr.  Paterson  had  already 
made  an  attempt  to  penetrate  into  that  part  of  the  country, 
but  was  obliged  to  return  without  accomplishing  his  design; 
and,  from  the  distracted  state  of  the  neighbouring  tribes,  it 
was  at  present  deemed  unadvisable  to  renew  the  attempt.* 
In  March  1810,  the  whole  number  of  persons  belonging 
to  the  missionary  settlement  at  Karass  amounted  to  thirty- 

*  UiiXi^.  Mon.  vol.  vj.  p.  187;  voi.  vW.  p.  465,  568. 


by  the  Edinburgh  Missionary  Society.  467 

nine.  But  besides  the  persons  more  immediately  connected 
with  the  mission,  tliere  were  in  the  settlement  one  Mahom- 
mcdan  and  two  German  families;  and,  since  that  time,  their 
number  has  been  considerably  augmented,  by  the  addition 
of  a  great  many  other  German  colonists;  a  measure  which, 
we  fear,  will  not  be  attended  with  the  best  effects,  in  respect 
of  the  mission  among  the  Tartars.* 

The  missionaries  had  now  circulated  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  tracts  through  the  country,  and,  by  this  means,  had 
excited  a  spirit  of  inquiry  among  the  people.  The  chiefs, 
however,  were  hostile  to  their  circulation,  and  prohibited 
their  subjects  from  reading  them,  under  the  severest  penal- 
tics.  The  Mahommedan  tribes,  to  the  south  of  Karass,  dis- 
played the  most  furious  enthusiasm  in  support  of  their  reli- 
gion. Inspired  with  a  bloody  zeal,  diey  threatened  destruc- 
tion to  all  who  bore  the  Christian  name.  Paradise,  with  all 
its  sensual  delights,  was  preached  up  with  more  than  ordi- 
nary earnestness  by  the  effendis  and  mollahs;  and  in  conse- 
quence of  this,  a  considerable  number  of  the  people  had  al- 
ready sacrificed  their  lives  in  fighting  for  the  religion  of  the 
prophet.  The  missionaries  were,  in  a  particular  manner, 
the  object  of  their  rage  and  malice;  and  they  had  lately  em- 
ployed means  to  destroy  them;  but  owing  to  certain  unfore- 
seen causes,  their  malignant  designs  were  happily  disappoint- 
ed. Though  their  enemies  acknowledged  that  they  were 
quiet  inoffensive  people,  they  complained  that  they  were 
zealous  in  endeavouring  to  seduce  the  people, f 

The  Tartars,  to  the  north  of  Karass,  seemed  no  less  de- 
termined to  oppose  the  labours  of  the  missionaries,  and  the 
progress  of  the  gospel.  The  chiefs  and  effendis  had  of  late 
several  meetings,  to  take  the  affairs  of  religion  under  consi- 
deration. They  passed  various  laws  against  those  who  ne- 
glected to  attend  prayers  at  the  Muschid;  and  they  appoint- 
ed some  of  their  number  to  visit  the  villages,  and  see  these' 

*  Rcllg.  Mon.  vol.  viii.  p.  324;  vol.  x.  p.  108;  vol.  si.  p.  110,  US. 
f  Ibid.  vol-,  vii.  p.  228;  vol.  viii  p.  4i6i 


468  Propagation  of  Christianity 

laws  carried  into  execution.  About  sixty  young  men  in  a 
village,  a  few  miles  from  Karass,  were  learning  to  be  priests, 
in  order  to  obstruct  more  effectually  the  progress  of  the  gos- 
pel; and  the  schools  throughout  the  country  were  crowded 
with  scholars,  as  the  chiefs,  who  were  particularly  hostile  to 
the  progress  of  Christianity,  earnestly  advised  the  people  to 
have  their  children  taught  to  read,  that  they  might  be  able  to 
withstand  the  arguments  of  the  missionaries,  and  to  defend 
their  own  religion.  The  common  people,  however,  though 
much  intimidated  by  these  proceedings,  were  not  insensible 
of  the  violence  of  the  means  which  were  employed  to  preserve 
them  sound  in  the  faith;  and  several  of  the  effendis  com- 
plained, that  they  did  not  meet  with  the  same  respect  from 
them  as  formerly.* 

In  March  1813,  Mr.  Brunton  departed  this  life,  after  a 
painful  illness  of  several  weeks.  Happy  should  we  have 
been,  could  we  have  spoken  of  his  character  and  conduct 
Math  unqualified  approbation;  but  though  he  was  certainly  a 
man  of  a  vigorous  understanding,  and  possessed  a  great  facili- 
ty in  acquiring  languages,  as  well  as  various  other  qualities 
which  fitted  him  to  be  a  useful  missionary  among  the  Heathen, 
yet  it  cannot  be  denied,  that  there  were  faults  in  his  charac- 
ter, which  more  than  counterbalanced  these  excellencies; 
and,  indeed,  toward  the  close  of  his  life,  his  conduct  was  a 
disgrace  to  the  cause  in  which  he  was  engaged.  It  is  pain- 
ful to  record  such  circumstances,  but  impartiality  demands 
it  of  us.  Let  not  the  infidel  triumph  in  the  fall  of  poor  Brun- 
ton; let  the  Christian  shed  a  tear  over  his  memory;  and  "let 
him  that  thinketh  he  standeth,  take  heed  lest  he  fall."t 

It  is  proper  here  to  add,  that  Mr.  Brunton,  soon  after  his 
arrival  in  the  country,  began  to  translate  the  New  Testament 
into  the  Turkish  language,  or  rather  the  language  of  the 
Nogoy  Tartars,  which  is  a  dialect  of  it,  and  which  he  thought 
would  be  understood  by  most  of  the  Tartars  who  could  read, 
from  the  banks  of  the  Wolga  to  the  shores  of  the  Euxine 

*  Relig.  Mon.  vol.  viii.  p.  41".  f  J^bitL  vol.  xi.  p.  22B<. 


by  the  Edinburgh  Missionary  Society.  459 

Sea.  In  carrying  on  this  work,  he  derived  essential  assist- 
ance from  the  translation  of  the  New  Testament  in  Turkish, 
by  Dr.  Lazarus  Seamen,  which  was  published  in  England 
about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  This  work  he 
completed  before  his  last  illness  commenced;  and  we  are 
happy  to  add,  that  the  printing  of  it  was  finished  a  few  weeks 
after  his  death.  The  edition  consisted  of  two  thousand  five 
hundred  copies,  and  is  no  doubt  now  in  circulation  through 
the  country.  The  missionaries  were  also  printing  an  im- 
pression of  Brown's  Catechism  in  English,  for  the  use  of  tTie 
children  in  the  settlement,  who  understand  that  language; 
and  Mr.  Paterson  had  translated  it  into  German,  for  the  be- 
nefit of  the  families  of  the  colonists,  but  owing  to  some  im- 
perfections in  the  German  types,  it  has  not  yet  been  printed.* 

In  August  last,  the  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  missi- 
onary settlement  at  Karass  amounted  to  165  persons,  namely, 
25  British,  six  of  whom  were  missionaries,  18  natives,  and 
122  Germans.  Since  the  establishment  of  the  mission,  twen- 
ty-seven natives  have  been  ransomed,  ten  of  whom  have 
been  baptized.  Of  this  number  five  have  died,  some  of 
whom,  there  was  reason  to  hope,  departed  in  the  faith  of 
Christ.  One  of  the  baptized,  and  four  of  the  unbaptized  liad 
run  off  to  the  Kabardians.f 

Since  that  time,  however,  the  settlement  at  Karass  has 
been  abandoned.  Of  late  they  had  been  under  frequent 
alarms  of  an  attack  by  the  natives;  and  in  the  course  of  last 
summer,  a  Turkish  effendi  came  from  the  Kuban,  pretend- 
ing to  have  autliority  from  the  Turkish  court,  to  invite  all 
the  Tartars  in  this  quarter  to  remove  to  the  other  side  of 
that  river.  This  he  pretended  was  an  article  of  the  late  peace 
between  Russia  and  Turkey;  but  as  the  Russian  command- 
er knew  nothing  of  such  an  agreement,  he  refused  to  allow  the 
Tartars  to  go,  until  he  should  receive  instructions  from 

•  Relig.  Mon.  vol.  i.  p.  278;  vo!.  iii,  p.  30;  vol.  xi.  p.  308;  vol.  x.  p.  455.;  MSS. 
Accounts. 

t  Eva,n,  Mag.  vol.  xxi.  p.  478; 


470  Propagation  of  Christianity^  ^c. 

Petersburg.  The  effendi,  on  the  other  hand,  insisted  on  his 
demand  being  complied  with  immediately,  and  it  is  said  v^as 
raising  an  army  to  carry  them  away  by  force  To  this  mea- 
sure the  Tartars  themselves  appear  to  have  had  no  objection. 
Those  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Karass,  after  bnrning  their 
towns,  have  all  left  the  country;  not  a  single  village  is  left. 
The  missionaries  were  under  great  apprehensions  lest  they 
should  carry  them  along  with  them;  but  happily  none  of 
their  enemies  came  near  them,  though  two  robbers  who 
headed  a  party  which  attacked  them  some  time  before,  and 
who  had  since  frecjuently  threatened  them,  were  in  the  gang. 
As  the  danger,  however,  was  by  no  means  over,  they  have 
removed  with  their  families  to  the  fort  of  Georghievsk, 
which  has  more  than  once  afforded  them  an  asylum,  under 
similar  circumstances.* 

*  Relip;.  Mon.  vol.  vl.  p.  A^^j. 


CHAPTER  XL 


PROPAGATION   OF    CHRISTIANITY  BY  THE  CirtrRCIT 
MISSIONARY  SOCIETY. 


Susoo   Country. 

THE  Church  Missionary  Society,  as  it  is  now  called,  \vns 
instituted  in  the  year  1800,  by  some  members  of  the  Church 
of  England."-*  Having  failed  in  procuring  missionaries  of 
their  own  communion,  they  were  at  length  successful  in  ob- 
taining two  from  the  Missionary  Seminary,  established  at 
Berlin,  under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ja^nicke;!  and  they 
resolved  to  commence  their  operations  by  a  mission  to  the 
Susoo  countr}',  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Sierra  Leone. 

Li  the  Spring  of  1804,  these  two  missionaries,  Messrs. 
Renner  and  Hartwig,  sailed  from  England,  and  after  an 
agreeable  voyage  of  seven  weeks,  arrived  in  safety  at  Sierra 
Leone.  The  colony  having  been  long  destitute  of  a  regular 
chaplain,  Mr.  Renner  undertook,  for  the  present,  the  charge 
of  their  spiritual  concerns,  and,  in  tne  meanwhile,  he  hoped 
to  become  enured  to  the  climate,  and  to  acquire  some  know- 
ledge of  the  Susoo  language.  Mr.  Hartwig  and  his  wife, 
were  attacked  soon  alter  their  arrival,  by  a  severe  fever;  at 

*  It  was  originally  called,  The  Society  for  Missions  to  Africa  and  the 
East. 

t  This  institution,  which  was  formed  a  few  years  ago,  took  its  rise 
from  the  henevolence  of  Baron  Von  Shirnding,  a  nobleman  of  Saxony, 
much  distinguished  by  his  zeal  fir  the  propagation  of  Christianity 
jwnong  the  Heathen.     Evan.  Mag.  vol.  ix.  p.  210. 


472  Propagation  of  Christianity 

one  time,  they  appeared  to  be  brought  near  the  gates  of  death, 
nor,  indeed,  did  they  recover,  until  after  an  ilhiess  of  many 
months.  On  his  recovery,  he  employed  himself  in  making 
excursions  into  the  neighbouring  country,  with  the  view  of 
improving  his  knowledge  of  the  Susoo  language;  and  after 
some  time,  he  had  the  prospect  of  settling  in  a  town,  sup- 
posed to  contain  about  three  thousand  inhabitants. 

In  February  1806,  the  Society  sent  out  four  other  mis- 
sionaries to  Sierra  Leone,  namely,  Messrs.  Schultz,  Nylan- 
der,  Prasse,  and  Butscher.  They  had  not,  however,  sailed 
above  a  week,  when  they  were  stranded  on  the  coast  of  Ire- 
land, near  Wexford.  Destruction,  at  first,  seemed  inevita- 
ble; but  soon  after  the  vessel  struck,  the  day  dawned,  and, 
to  their  inexpressible  joy,  they  descried  the  land  at  no  great 
distance.  Having  procured  assistance  from  shore,  they  all 
landed  in   safety,  though  part  of  their  property  was  lost. 

Soon  after,  Nylander,  Prasse,  and  Butscher,  embarked 
again  for  Sierra  Leone;  but  owing  to  a  variety  of  circumstan- 
ces, it  was  several  months  before  they  arrived  at  Freetown, 
and  a  still  longer  period  elapsed  before  they  commenced 
their  missionary  operations. 

At  length,  in  March  1808,  Messrs.  Renner,  Butscher,  and 
Prasse  left  Sierra  Leone,  and  proceeded  to  the  Susoo  coun- 
try.* From  several  of  the  chiefs,  they  met  with  the  kind- 
est reception,  and  the  greatest  encouragement;  but  to  others, 
their  proposal  of  teaching  them  good  things,  seemed  very 
unaccountable,  and  even  almost  ridiculous.  What  they 
had  hitherto  known  of  White  men,  prepared  them  to  view, 
with  surprise  and  suspicion,  any  desire  of  Christians  to  set- 
tle among  them  with  a  benevolent  design. 

Soon  after  their  arrival,  a  trader  of  the  name  of  Curtis, 
transferred  to  them  a  factory,  belonging  to  him,  at  a  place 
called  Bashia,  on  condition  that  they  would  teach  his  chil- 

*  Previous  to  this,  Mr.  Hartwig  had  withdrawn  from  the  service  of 
the  Society.  Mr.  Nylander  ^Yas  left  at  8ierra  Leone,  as  chaplain  to  the 
colony. 


by  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  473 

dren.  The  house  consisted  of  two  stories,  was  about  sixty- 
feet  wide,  and  twenty  in  breadth.  It  was  built  chiefly  of 
country  brick,  and  there  were  several  other  houses  attached 
to  it.  The  garden  also  was  extensive,  and  contained  abun- 
dance of  lemon,  plaintain,  pine,  and  other  trees.  The  sur- 
rounding country  was  hilly,  but  the  prospect  was  pleasant, 
especially  opposite  the  settlement,  were  hundreds  of  palm 
trees  presented  a  charming  view.  One  of  the  first  cares 
of  the  missionaries  was  to  bring  the  garden  and  the  ground 
into  some  kind  of  order;  and  soon  after,  they  began  to  re- 
ceive some  of  the  Negro  children  under  their  care. 

About  the  same  time,  Butscher  and  Prasse  proceeded  to 
finish  a  Jiouse  at  another  town  called  Fantimania,  further 
up  the  country,  but  it  was  not  long  before  the  latter  was 
taken  ill  and  died.  He  was  of  a  healthy  vigorous  constitu- 
tion; but  having,  in  the  course  of  a  journey,  caught  cold,  in 
consequence,  it  was  supposed,  of  wading  through  several 
creeks,  in  order  to  avoid  a  circuitous  route,  he  was  attacked 
by  a  fever,  which  in  a  few  days  carried  him  to  the  grave. 

In  October  1809,  Messrs.  Barnethand  Wenzel,  two  new 
missionaries  whom  the  society  had  lately  sent  out,  arrived 
in  the  Susoo  country.  Upon  their  arrival,  a  consultation 
was  held  concerning  the  aftairs  of  the  mission,  and  it  was 
agreed  that  they  should  settle  at  Fantimania,  while  Renncr 
and  Butscher  should  reside  at  Bashia.  Mr.  Barneth,  how- 
ever, had  scarcely  arrived  in  the  country,  when  he  was 
brought  so  low  by  repeated  attacks  of  fever,  that  he  died 
shortly  after.  He  was  a  man  of  a  peculiarly  simple  and  affec- 
tionate temper,  of  ardent  piety  toward  God,  and  of  fervent 
love  to  man.  During  the  short  time  he  was  in  the  country, 
he  was  much  beloved  by  the  natives,  and  greatly  respected 
by  all  who  knew  him. 

Since  their  settlement  in  the  country,  the  missionaries 
appear  to  have  made  no  attempts  for  Christianizing  the  peo- 
ple in  the  way  of  preaching,  Irom  a  pernic  ious  idea  that  little 
success  was  to  be  expected  with  the  adults,  particularly  on 

VOL.   II.  S  O 


474  Propagation  of  Christianity 

the  coast  where  the  slave  trade  has  ruined  the  morals,  andl 
debased  the  feelings  of  the  inhabitants.  This  is  a  circum- 
stance which  we  cannot  but  deeply  regret,  as  the  preaching 
of  the  gospel  is  certainly  the  grand  engine  appointed  by 
God,  for  the  conversion  of  the  Heathen  world;  and  it  has 
already  been  crowned  with  wonderful  success,  in  many  ca- 
ses, which,  to  the  eye  of  sense,  were  much  more  hopeless 
than  that  of  the  Susoos.  The  object  to  which  they  have 
principally  directed  their  attention,  is  the  education  of  the 
young.  It  was  the  wish  of  the  society,  that,  after  acquiring 
the  Susoo  tongue  they  sliould  teach  the  children  to  read  their 
own  language;  but  as  those  who  were  intrusted  to  their  care 
were  all  sent  for  the  express  purpose  of  learning  "  the  White 
inan's  book,"  to  which  their  parents  chiefly  looked  for  ren- 
dering them  superior  to  others  of  their  countrymen,  they 
found  it  necessary  to  acquiesce  in  their  wishes,  and  to  em- 
ploy their  principal  attention  in  teaching  them  the  English 
language.  Some  of  the  scholars  were  the  sons  of  chiefs, 
whose  good  will  was  thereby  secured  to  the  mission,  and 
several  of  them  were  ransomed  from  slavery  by  the  mission- 
aries. Such  of  them  as  belonged  to  traders,  were  support- 
ed by  their  parents;  but  the  children  of  the  Susoos,  it  was 
necessary  to  furnish  with  food  and  clothing,  as  well  as  to 
educate  them.  The  missionaries,  with  great  liberality,  pro- 
posed to  maintain  them  out  of  their  salaries,  but  the  number 
increased  so  much,  that  this  was  out  of  their  power.  Renner 
and  Butscher,  however,  still  offered  to  live  an  one  half  of 
their  salary,  and  to  devote  the  other  half,  amounting  to  100/. 
a  year,  to  this  benevolent  purpose;  thus  furnishing  a  striking 
proof  of  their  disinterestedness  and  zeal,  in  the  sacred  cause^ 
in  which  they  were  engaged. 

In  December  1810,  the  number  of  children  under  their 
care,  amounted  to  between  fifty  and  sixty.*     Mr.  Butscher, 

*  The  missionaries  have  now  about  a  hundred  and  twenty  children 
nnder  their  care,  and  they  have  introduced  the  Lancastrian  system  of 
education  into  their  schools. 


by  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  475 

with   thirty  boys,  occupied   the  new  school-house,  which 
he  had  built  with  a  great   deal  of  trouble,  during  the  dry 
season.     Mr.  Renner  and  his  wife  resided  in  the  old  house, 
with  twenty-five  girls,  who  were  all  neatly  dressed  in  frocks 
and  gowns,   which  they  made  under  the  superintendence  of 
tliat  useful  woman.     In  supporting  so  large  a  family,  how- 
ever the  missionaries  had,  of  late,  met  with  considerable  dif- 
ficulties,  in   consequence  of  the  scarcity  and  high  price  of 
rice.      The  natives  did  not   bring  them  a  single  basket  of 
that  article  for  sale;  they  disposed  of  what  they  had  for  rum, 
and  did  not  value  their  cloth.     The  missionaries,  however, 
obtained  a  supply  from  the  traders;  and  had  it  not  been  for 
this  supply,   they  would  have  been  under  the  necessity  of 
sending  all  the  children  home  to  their  parents,  though  even 
they  would  have  been  ill  able  to  support  them,  for  some  of 
them  were  so  much  in  want  of  provisions,  that  several  of 
their  people  died  of  hunger.     The  price  of  provisions,  in- 
deed, was  so  high,  that  the  missionaries  thought  their  fami- 
ly could  not  be  maintained  longer  than  a  fortnight,  with  the 
goods  which  they  had  in  their  store.     In  this  extremity,  it 
occurred  to  Mr.  Butscher  to  apply  to  Fananda,  a  chief,  at  a 
place  about  forty  miles  distant,  who  had  been  several  years 
in  England,   for  his  education,   and  who  had  expressed  a 
strong  desire  that  they  would  settle  in  his  town.     On  learn- 
ing their  wants,  he  frankly  offered  to  thrash  out  two  tons  of 
rice  for  them,   within  a  few  days;   and  though  that  article 
had,  of  late  been  selling   so  high  as  fifty  pouixls  a  ton,  yet 
when  Butscher  told  him,  he  had  no  money  to  pay  for  it  at 
present,  he  generously  replied,  "  My  dear  sir,  I  do  not  look 
to  your  money.     Pay  when  you   can.      I  look  more  to  the 
purpose  for  which  you  came  into  this  country,  to  teach  chil- 
dren; and  I  should  feel  myself  very  happy,  indeed,  to  see 
you  teaching  children  in  my  territory." 

While  the  missionaries  displayed  so  much  disinterested- 
ness and  zeal  in  labouring  among  the  children,  they  were 
not  themselves  exempted  from  Uic  machinations  of  enemies- 


476  Propagation  of  Christianity 

The  settlements  at  Bashia  and  Fantimania  were  established 
at  a  very  critical  period.  The  slave  trade  had  just  received 
a  fatal  blow;  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  gracious  care  of 
Providence  over  them,  that  blow  would  have  been  returned 
on  the  head  of  the  missionaries,  by  the  traders,  who  still  re- 
mained in  the  country.  Some  of  these  unprincipled  wretches 
spared  neither  pains  nor  time  to  enrage  the  Susoos  and  their 
chiefs  against  them;  but  happily  they  failed  in  the  attempt. 
Indeed,  it  is  a  remarkable  circumstance,  that  the  mission- 
aries, from  their  first  residence  in  the  country,  found  both 
their  persons  and  their  property  as  safe, "  or  even  safer,  than 
in  their  native  land,  for  here  theft  and  murder  were  much 
more  rare  than  in  Europe.  It  was  necessary,  however,  to  main- 
tain some  degree  of  watchfulness,  on  account  of  the  Foulahs, 
who  sometimes  break  into  the  houses  of  White  people,  steal 
their  goods,  and  even  murder  them  if  they  can.* 

In  December  1812,  Mr.  Butscher,  who  had  lately  come 
on  a  visit  to  England,  sailed  again  for  Africa,  on  board  the 
brig  Charles,  with  eight  other  persons,  several  of  whom  were 
mechanics,  and  an  investment  of  stores,  amounting  nearly  to 
3000/.  with  the  view  of  forming  a  new  settlement,  which 
was  to  be  called  Gambler,  on  the  Rio  Dembia.  Soon  after 
they  passed  the  island  of  Goree,  and  when  they  were  flatter- 
ing themselves  with  the  hope  of  arriving  in  the  Rio  Pongas, 
in  three  or  four  days,  the  vessel  struck  upon  a  reef  of  the 
Tonqui  rocks,  about  five  miles  from  the  shore,  and  twent}" 
miles  south  of  the  river  Gambia.  Most  of  the  passengers 
were  then  in  bed,  but  they  were  soon  roused  by  the  violence 
of  the  shock.  Every  one  hastened  upon  deck,  some  half 
naked,  and  others  lightly  dressed.  It  was  then  dark,  and  as 
the  vessel  beat  violently  upon  the  rocks,  they  expected  every 
moment  that  she  would  go  to  pieces.  When  the  morning 
dawned,  however,  they  were  happy  to  discover  the  land  so 
near;  but  as  they  failed  in  all  their  attempts  to  bring  her  off  the 

•  Proceedings  of  the  Society  for  Missions  to  Africa  and  the  East,  the  Churcli 
Missionary  Society,  in  tliree  volumes. 


by  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  477 

reef,  the  captain,  after  some  clays,  asked  Mr.  Butscher  to 
proceed  to  Goree,   with  the  view  of  procuring  assistance 
from  that  island,  and  to  bring,   if  possible,  a  vessel  to  save 
the  cargo.     He  accordingly  set  off,   together  with  his  wife 
and  several  others  of  his  companions,   and   on  arriving  at 
Goree,  he  procured  a  brig  to  go  to  the  relief  of  the  Charles, 
In  the  meanwhile,  however,  the  captain  and  one  of  the  pas- 
sengers were  killed  in  an  affray  with  the  natives;   while  the 
rest  of  those  on  board  fled  to  Goree,  in  a  small  craft  which 
had  been  assisting  them;  the  vessel  was  then  taken  possession 
of  by  the  natives,  and  they  were  now  discharging  the  cargo. 
Thus  the  missionaries  lost  nearly  all  the  property  they  were 
carrying  with  them;   but  they  soon  after  found  an  opportu- 
nity of  proceeding  to  the  place  of  their  destination.     In  the 
course  of  the  voyage,  two  of  the  settlers  died,  one  at  Goree 
and  another  just  about  an  hour  before  they  came  to  anchor 
in  the  Rio  Pongas.     Since  that  time  the  society  have  sent 
out  an  investment  of  property,  to  the  amount  of  nearly  2O00/. 
which  with   stores  bought  at  Goree  and  at  Sierra  Leone^ 
will,  it  is  hoped,  enable  them  soon  to  effect  that  extension 
of  their  plan,  which  was  suspended  by  the  shipwreck  of  Mr. 
Butscher  and  his   companions.     The  Church  Missionar}- 
Society  will  then  have  four  settlements  on  the  western  coast 
of  Africa,  Bashia  and  Canoffee  on  the  Rio  Pongas,  Yongroo, 
Avhich  has  lately  l^een  begun  by  Mr.  Nylander,  on  the  Bul- 
1am  shore,  and  Gambler  on  the  Rio  Dembia.* 

•  Missionary  Reg'ister,  vol.  i.  p.  149,  2&7,  "0?,  1(59,  1^0. 


APPENDIX. 


No.  I. 

A  BRIEF  ACCOUNT  OF  MISSIONS  OF  INFERIOR 

NOTE. 


The  Anglo-Americans. 

THE  SOCIETY  IN   SCOTLAND   FOR   PROPAGATING  CHRISTIAN 
KNOWLEDGE. 


THE  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian 
Knowledge,  was  instituted  at  Edinburgh  in  the  year  1 709. 
The  chief  design  of  this  institution,  was  the  extension  of  re- 
ligion in  the  Highlands  and  Islands  of  Scotland,  by  the  erec- 
tion of  schools  for  the  education  of  the  joung;  but  it  like- 
>vise  extended  its  views  to  the  conversion  of  the  Heathen. 
A  few  years  after  the  formation  of  the  society,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Williams,  a  dissenting  clergyman  in  London,  left  them  a 
legacy  of  a  valuable  estate  in  Huntingdonshire,  for  the  ex- 
press purpose  of  supporting  missionaries  in  foreign  and  in- 
fidel countries;  but  owing  to  the  inadequacy  of  their  funds, 
it  was  some  years  before  they  were  able  to  carry  into  effect 
this  important  part  of  their  plan.  An  Account  of  the  Soci- 
ety in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge,  1774, 
p.  5,  7. 

In  1730,  the  society  granted  a  commission  to  his  excel- 
lency Jonathan  Belcher,  Esq.  governor  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  and  to  some  other  gentlemen  of  respectabilit}-  in  New- 
England,  to  be  their  corresj)ondents  in  that  quarter  of  the 
world,  with  power  to  them  to  choose  persons  qualified  for 
the  otiice  of  missionaries,  and  to  appoint  the  particular  places 
where  they  should  labour.     In  consequence  of  this  com- 


480  Appendix. 

mission,  which  was  most  readily  accepted  by  his  excellenc} 
governor  Belcher,  and  by  the  other  gentlemen  mentioned  in 
it,  three  persons  were  appointed  by  them,  with  a  salary  of 
20/.  sterling  each,  as  missionaries  to  the  Indians  on  the  bor- 
ders of  Mew- England,  namely,  Mr.  Joseph  Secomb,  at  fort 
George  on  George's  River,  where  the  Penobscot  Indians 
traded;  Mr.  Ebenezer  Hensdale,  at  fort  Dummer  on  Con- 
necticut river;  and  Mr.  Stephen  Parker,  at  fort  Richmond, 
both  places  of  resort  for  the  Indians.  Upon  an  application 
from  governor  Belcher,  the  general  court  of  the  province  of 
Massachusetts  Bay  voted  100/.  a  year  of  their  currency,  to 
be  paid  out  of  the  public  treasury  to  each  of  these  mission- 
aries, provided  they  should  usually  reside  at  the  three  places 
now  mentioned,  or  at  such  other  places  as  should  be  named 
by  the  general  court,  and  there  perform  the  duty  of  chap- 
lains. These  missionaries  were  maintained  by  the  society 
till  the  year  1737,  when  they  were  dismissed  on  account  of 
their  want  of  success,  and  their  declining  to  live  among  the 
Indians. 

The  trustees  for  the  colony  of  Georgia  having,  in  1735, 
engaged  a  considerable  number  of  people  from  the  High- 
lands of  Scotland  to  settle  in  that  part  of  America,  and  be- 
ing desirous  that  they  should  have  a  Presbyterian  minister 
to  preach  to  them  in  Gaelic,  and  to  teach  and  catechise  the 
children  in  English,  applied  to  the  society  to  grant  a  com- 
mission to  such  a  minister,  who  should  likewise  act  as  one 
of  their  missionaries  for  Christianizing  the  Indians,  and  to 
allow  him  a  salary  for  some  years,  until  the  colony  should 
be  able  to  maintain  him  solely  at  their  own  expence.  The 
trustees  further  agreed  to  give  to  this  missionary  and  to  his 
successors,  in  perpetuity,  300  acres  of  land.  The  society 
accordingly  granted  a  commission  to  Mr.  John  Macleod,  a 
native  of  the  Isle  of  Sky,  with  a  salary  of  50/.  sterling.  This 
mission  was  supported  till  1740,  when  the  greatest  part  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Georgia  having  been  cut  off  in  an  expedi- 
tion against  the  Spaniards  at  St.  Augustine,  Mr.  Macleod 
left  the  colony. 

In  1741,  the  society  established  a  board  of  correspondents 
at  New- York,  with  the  same  powers  and  for  the  same  pur- 
poses as  that  at  Boston.  This  board  appointed  Mr.  Azariah 
Horton  to  labour  as  a  missionary  on  Long  Island,  a  part  of 
the  province  of  New- York,  with  a  salary  of  40/.  sterling, 
and  named  as  his  assistant  and  interpreter  one  Miranda,  an 


Missions  of  Inferior  Note,  481 

Indian,  formerly  a  trader,  but  ^vho  had  for  some  time  labour- 
ed to  instruct  the  Delaware  and  Susquehannah  Indians. — 
Miranda  died  soon  after  his  appointment;  but  Mr.  Horton 
remained  for  several  years  on  Long  Island.  An  Account 
of  the  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian  Know- 
ledge, p.  13.  On  liis  arrival,  he  met  with  a  very  favom'ablc 
reception  from  the  Indians.  Those  who  lived  at  tliC  east 
end  of  the  island,  in  particular,  listened  with  great  attention 
to  his  instructions,  and  many  of  them  were  brought  to  in- 
quire, What  they  should  do  to  be  saved'?  A  general  refor- 
mation of  manners  quickly  ensued  among  them;  many  of 
them  were  impressed  ^vith  deep  convictions  of  their  sinful- 
ness and  misery;  and  there  was  even  a  number  who  gave  sa- 
tisfactory evidence  of  their  saving  conversion  to  Christ.  In 
the  course  of  two  or  three  years,  Mr.  Horton  baptized  thir- 
ty-five adults  and  forty-four  children.  He  also  took  pains 
to  teach  them  to  read,  and  some  of  them  made  considerable 
progress.  But  the  extensiveness  of  his  charge,  and  the  ne- 
cessity of  his  travelling  from  place  to  place,  rendered  it  im- 
possible for  him  to  pay  that  regular  attention  to  this  import, 
ant  object,  that  was  desirable. 

Such  was  the  promising  aspect  of  this  mission  for  some 
time;  but  it  was  not  long  before  there  appeared  a  melancholy 
declension  among  some  of  the  Indians,  in  consequence  of 
the  introduction  of  spirituous  liquors  among  them,  and  their 
being  allured  by  this  means  into  drunkenness,  their  darling 
vice.  Some,  too,  grew  careless  and  remiss  in  attending  on 
divine  worship;  but  still  there  were  a  number  who  retained 
iheir  first  serious  impressions,  and  continued  to  breathe  the 
temper  of  genuine  Christians.  Brainerd's  Life,  p.  547. 
Gillies'  Historical  Collections,  vol.  ii.  p.  448.  In  1750,  the 
school  at  Mountack  and  Shemcock  contained  about  sixty 
children,  who  made  considerable  progress  in  learning;  and 
in  general,  the  means  of  grace  appeared  to  be  blessed  to  the 
poor  Indians.  Bonar's  Sermon  before  the  Society  for  Pro- 
pagating Christian  Knowledge,  p.  49.  But  as  this  mission 
was  not  so  extensively  useful  as  was  expected,  it  was  given 
up  in  the  beginning  of  1753.  Account  of  the  Society  in 
Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge,  p.  15.  We 
are  informed,  however,  that  in  1788,  the  Indians  in  those 
places  where  Mr.  Horton  laboured  were  still  religiously  dis- 
posed, and  that  they  had  two  preachers  among  them,  both 
Indians,  and  well  esteemed.  A  number  of  them  were  com* 
vol..  n.  .IP 


482  Appendix, 

municants,  though  how  many  we  cannot  say.  American 
Correspondence,  among  the  records  of  the  Society  in  Scot- 
land for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge,  MS.  vol.  i.  p. 
166. 

The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  New- 
England,  having  resolved  to  send  a  missionary  and  a  school- 
master to  tht  Cherokee  Upper  towns,  provided  the  society 
in  Scotland  would  send  another  missionary  and  schoolmaster 
to  the  same  towns,  the  society  allowed  60/.  sterling  a  year 
for  this  purpose,  and  placed  it  under  the  management  of 
certain  persons  in  Carolina  and  Virginia,  In  consequence 
of  this,  Mr.  Martin  engaged  in  this  mission  in  December 
1757;  and  appearances  being  promising,  Mr.  Richardson 
was  sent  tliither  the  following  year;  but  as  the  Cherokees 
joined  in  hostilities  with  the  French  against  the  English,  the 
mission  was  soon  after  relmquished. 

In  1762,  the  board  of  correspondents  at  Boston  sent  three 
missionaries  to  Ohonoquagie,  an  Indian  town  on  the  banks 
of  the  river  Susquehannah.  They  were  received  by  the  In- 
dians with  great  cordiality;  but  as  they  were  not  so  success- 
ful as  was  expected,  they  returned  to  Boston. 

As  ignorance  of  the  Indian  language  had  always  been  a 
powerful  obstacle  to  the  propagation  of  Christianity  among 
the  Indians,  tlie  board  of  correspondents  at  Boston  adopted 
a  plan  for  the  education  of  Enghsh  and  Indian  youths.  Three 
Indians  were  put  to  school;  but  as  many  inconveniences,  and 
particularly  a  great  ex  pence,  was  found  to  attend  this  scheme, 
it  was  given  up.  They  then  attempted  to  establish  schools 
in  the  Indian  settlements;  but  the  Indians  on  the  borders  of 
New- England  having  commenced  hostilities,  this  measure 
was  attended  with  little  effect. 

In  1772,  the  society  sent  two  missionaries  and  an  inter- 
preter to  the  Delaware  Indians.  On  their  arrival,  many  of 
the  savages  were  attentive  to  them,  and  some  were  desirous 
of  being  instructed  in  the  word  of  God.  But  these  promis- 
ing appearances  quickly  vanished;  and  the  Indians  ordered 
them  to  return  to  those  who  sent  them. 

Tlie  society  also  paid  40/.  sterling  towards  the  support  of 
four  missionaries,  who  were  sent  in  1773  to  the  Indian  tribes 
in  Canada. 

In  February  1774,  a  memorial  was  presented  to  the  so- 
ciety, from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ezra  Styles,  and  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Hopkins,  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  in  which  they  set  forth 


Missions  of  Inferior  Note.  483 

the  following  particulars:  That  two  negroes  in  that  place, 
named  Bribiol  Yaninia  and  John  Qiiamine,  were  hopeiuUy 
converted  to  Christianity  some  years  beibre,  and  since  that 
time  had  sustained  a  respectable  character  as  Christiais;  that 
they  were  now  about  thirty  years  of  age,  possessed  consider- 
able natural  abilities,  and  spoke  their  native  language,  the 
language  of  a  numerous  and  powerful  nation  in  Guinea;  that 
they  were  very  anxious  to  make  some  attempt  for  the  propa- 
gation of  the  gospel  among  their  ignorant  brethren;  that 
these  various  circumstances  had  induced  several  persons  in 
Newport,  Rhode  Island,  to  set  on  foot  a  proposal  of  sending 
them  on  a  mission  to  Africa;  that  in  order  to  qualify 
them  for  this  important  office,  it  was  necessary  they  bh„.aid 
be  put  to  school,  and  taught  to  read  and  write  better  than 
they  were  yet  able  to  do,  and  Lliat  they  should  likewise  be 
mure  iuiiy  instructed  in  divinity;  that  ii,  upon  trial,  they 
should  oe  found  to  have  made  suitable  improvement,  and 
should  be  iound  qualified  to  act  as  missionaries,  it  was  not 
duuuied  that  money  might  be  raised  sufficient  to  carry  the 
design  into  execution;  that  at  present  money  was  wanting 
for  aischargiiig  a  debt  of  fifty  dollars,  contracted  by  the  lat- 
ter Oi  tlieni  Wiicn  he  purchased  his  freedom,  and  for  support- 
ing boiii  of  t  .em  at  school.  The  memorialists,  therefore, 
eiiueaiecl  all  well-disposed  persons  to  contribute  to  forward 
till.-  plan  lor  sending  the  gospel  to  the  nations  of  Africa.  The 
society,  after  considering  this  statement,  unanimously  ap- 
proved of  the  proposal,  and  ordered  a  sum  not  exceeding 
3U/.  sterling  to  be  sent  to  the  memorialists,  and  signified,  at 
the  Same  time,  their  willingness  to  contribute  to  the  support 
oi  liie  intended  mission,  whenever  it  should  be  undertaken. — 
Account  of  the  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Chris- 
tian Knowledge,  p.  15,  18. 

in  consequence  of  this  donation  of  the  Society,  in  Scot- 
land lor  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge,  together  with 
some  contributions  from  other  quarters,  the  two  Negroes 
were  sent  to  New- Jersey  College,  under  the  care  of  Dr. 
Witherspoon;  and  from  the  following  discovery,  it  was  ho- 
ped, that  when  their  education  was  completed;  they  would 
return  to  Africa,  under  circumstances  of  the  most  favourable 
nature.  There  was  at  Cape  Coast  Castle,  on  the  shores  of 
Guinea,  about  three  or  four  leagues  from  Annamaboe,  a 
Negro  missionary,   from  the   Society  for  Propagating  the 


484  Appendix. 

Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  whose  name  was  Philip  Quaque. 
All  account  having  been  sent  to  him  of  the  family  of  John 
Qnamine,  of  the  names  and  circumstances  of  his  parents, 
and  of  the  manner  of  his  being  carried  away,  he  was  desired 
to  make  inquiry  about  them,  and  if  he  found  his  father  or 
mother,  to  tell  them  that  their  son  M'as  still  alive,  and  that 
though  he  had  been  sold  as  a  slave,  he  had  now  obtained 
his  liberty,  and  propQscd  to  return  to  them.  Happily  he  was 
successful  in  finding  out  the  friends  of  his  countryman;  the 
description  which  was  sent  to  him  corresponding  completely 
with  their  names,  situation,  &c.  His  father  was  now  dead, 
but  his  mother  was  still  alive.  Her  joy,  on  hearing  that  her 
son  was  yet  living,  it  is  more  easy  to  conceive  than  describe. 
She  seemed,  like  Jacob  of  old,  when  he  said,  "  It  is  enough; 
Joseph  my  son  is  yet  alive;  I  shall  see  him  before  1  die." 
All  his  relations  earnestly  desired  that  he  might  soon  return 
to  them,  and  promised  that  nothing  should  be  wanting  to 
render  him  happy.  They  at  the  same  time  expressed  the 
warmest  gratitude  to  those  friends  who  had  taken  him  under 
their  care,  and  had  shewn  so  much  kindness  to  him. 

Meanwhile,  the  two  Negroes  continued  to  prosecute  their 
studies;  and  it  was  expected  their  education  would  soon  be 
completed;  but  on  the  commencement  of  hostilities  between 
the  colonies  and  the  mother  country,  there  was  a  want  of 
money  for  carrying  on  the  design,  and  therefore  they  left  the 
college,  and  entered  into  business  for  their  own  support,  in 
the  hope  that  they  would  at  length  find  an  opportunity  of  re- 
turning to  their  own  country.  But  during  the  war,  one  of 
then)  died,  and  after  the  conclusion  of  peace,  there  was  no 
way  found  of  sending  the  other  to  Africa.  American  Cor- 
respondence among  the  Records  of  the  Society  in  Scotland 
for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge,  MS.  vol.  i.  p.  35, 
75,  95. 


Missions  of  Inferior  Note.  485 


THE 


CORPORATION 


FOR     THE 


PROPAGATION   OF  THE    GOSPEL  IN  NEW-ENGLAND. 

IN  May  1733,  the  Rev.  Mr  PcU'ks  wus  sent  by  the  com- 
missioners of  Indian  affairs,  to  preach  to  the  Narraganset 
Indians,  about  Westerly  and  Charlestovvn,  in  Rhode  Island, 
and  to  such  oi  the  English  as  would  attend  on  his  instruc- 
tions. After  some  years,  the  revival  of  religion,  which  was 
so  remarkable  in  various  parts  of  America,  extended  to  this 
quarter,  and  was  by  no  means  confined  to  the  White  people. 
About  the  beginning  of  this  visitation,  some  of  the  Indians 
appeared  to  be  seriously  impressed  with  the  truth,  and  seve- 
ral of  them  seemed  to  be  set  up  as  monuments  of  divine 
grace.  But  the  power  of  God  begaji  to  be  most  remarkably 
displayed  among  them  as  a  body,  in  February  1743,  when  a 
number  of  Christian  Indians,  from  Stonington,  a  neighbour- 
ing town,  came  to  visit  dieir  countrymen,  at  this  place.  From 
that  tmie  the  greater  part  of  them  were  impressed  witn  a  se- 
rious concern  about  their  souls.  They  now  relinquished 
their  dances,  and  drunken  frolics,  and  flocked  more  to  the 
worship  of  God,  than  they  were  used  to  do  to  their  amuse- 
ments. Formerly  there  were  not  above  ten  or  !  welve  of  the 
Indians  who  came  to  the  church  at  iill;  but  now  there  were 
near  a  hundred  who  attended  very  regularly;  many  of  whom 
afibrded  the  most  pleasing  evidence  of  a  change  of  heart. 
Within  little  more  than  a  year,  upwards  of  sixty  of  them 
were  baptized,  and  admit  ed  to  the  full  communion  of  the 
church.  In  speaking  of  them,  Mr.  Parks  says,  "Consider- 
ing the  disadvantages  they  are  under,  by  not  being  able  to 
read,  they  may  well  be  called  experieneed  Christians,  and 
lu-e  examples  of  faith,  patience,  love,  humility,  and  every 
grace  of  the  Moly  Spirit.  I  have  sometimes,  been  ashamed, 
and  even  conlounded  before  God  at  myself,  when  I  have 
been  among  them,  and  have  licard  their  conversation,  be- 
held their  zeal,  and  fervent  charity  toward  each  other.  They 


486  AppeiuTix. 

are  abundant  in  their  endeavours  to  bring  over  such  as  op- 
.  pose  themselves,  by  setting  before  them  the  evil  of  their 
ways,  and  the  comfort  and  sweetness  of  true  religion.  When 
they  are  assembled  for  divine  worship,  their  hearts  are  often 
drawn  out  to  plead  with  their  brethren,  so  that  with  joy  I 
have  stood  still  to  see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord. 

Their  faith  in  God,  encourages  and  quickens  them  in  duty 
to  obtain  the  promises  of  the  good  things  of  this  life,  as  well 
as  of  that  which  is  to  come;  so  that  there  is  a  change  among 
them  in  the  outward  no  less  than  in  the  inward  man.  They 
grow  more  decent  and  cleanly  in  their  dress,  provide  better 
for  their  households,  and  get  clearer  of  debt. 

The  most  of  the  Indians  who  are  here  in  a  bod}^,  are  come 
into  the  kingdom  of  God;  and  the  most  oi"  those  that  are 
without  are  hopefully  convinced  that  God  is  in  the  others  of 
a  truth,  and  of  the  necessity  of  their  being  partakers  of  his 
grace.  Indeed,  the  Lord  seems  to  be  extending  the  power 
of  his  grace  to  such  as  are  scattered  abroad." — Princes' 
Christian  History,  vol.  i.  p.  201;  vol.  ii.  p.  22. 

This  revival  of  religion  among  the   Narraganset  Indians, 
does  not  appear  to   have  been  temporary.      We  suppose  at 
least,  it  was  to  them  that  the  Rev.  Charles  Beatty  refers,  in 
the  following  account  wliich  was  written  a  few  years  before 
the  commencement  of  the  American  war:  "  I  have  now  in  my 
hands,"  says  he,  "a  catalogue  containing  the  names  of  Indians 
belonging  to  the  Narraganset  tribes   in  New- England,  m 
number   about   three    hundred    and    fifteen.      Mr.    Samuel 
Drake,  who  has  furnished  the  catalogue,  and  also  written  an 
account  of  them,   and  v/ho  has  lived  fourteen  years  among 
them  as  a  schoolmaster,  says,  ''He  believes  in  the  judgment 
of  charity,  that  in  the  above  number  of  Indians,  there  are 
seventy  real  Christians;  that  about  sixty  of  them  have  entered 
into  covenant  with   God,  and  one   another,  as  a  church  of 
Christ,  and  arc  determined  to  follow  the  Lamb  of  God  whith- 
ersover  he  goes;  that  they  are  also  agreed  in  the  articles  of 
foith  contained   in  the  Apostles'   Creed;  that,  on  Tuesday, 
Thursday,   and   Saturday    evenings,    they   constantly  meet  J 
together,  for  singing  and  prayer;  and  that  in  their  devotions, 
their  affections  seem  to  be  surprisingly  drawn  out;  that  they 
are  not  fond  of  receiving  any  into  church  fellowship,    but 
such  as  can   give   some  good  account  of  their  being  born 
again,  renounce  their  Heathenish  practices,  subject  them- 
selves to  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  and  embrace  the  above 


Missions  of  Inferior  J\i'ote.  487 

articles  of  faith;  that  they  steadily  maintain  religious  worship 
in  their  families;  that,  once  in  four  weeks,  they  have  a  meet- 
ing on  the  Thursday,  preparatory  to  the  communion;  that, 
on  the  Sabbath  following,  they  celebrate  the  Lord's  Supper; 
and  ihat,  at  certain  sacramental  seasons,  he  has  thought  that 
the  Lord  Jesus  seemed,  as  it  were,  to  be  evidently  set  forth 
cruciticd  beiore  them;  that  if  at  any  time  any  of  their  breth- 
ren return  to  their  former  sinful  practices,  the  rest  will  mourn 
over  diem  as  though  their  hearts  would  break;  that,  if  their 
backslidmi^  brethren  repent  of  their  shi,  and  manifest  a  de- 
sire again  to  walk  with  the  church,  their  rejoicing  is  equal  to 
their  former  mourning;  but,  that  if  no  fruit  of  repentance 
appears,  after  they  have  mourned  over  them  for  several  meet- 
ings, they  bid  the  offender  farewell,  as  if  they  were  going  to 
part  to  meet  no  more,  and  with  such  a  mourning  as  resembles 
a  funeral.  I  have  been  at  several  such  meetings,  and  there 
has  been  such  a  lamentation  in  tlie  assembly,  when  they 
were  obliged  to  part  witli  a  brother,  as  a  Heatlien  man,  or 
publican,  that  even  the  sinner,  who  previously  appeared  per- 
fectly obstinate,  was  so  affected  as  to  appear  niwardly  in 
pain  for  sin;  and  continued  to  cry  to  God  for  mercy,  till  he 
was  delivered  from  his  load  of  guilt,  and  admitted  into  fellow- 
ship with  the  churcli  again."  He  adds,  "  That  this  reli- 
gious concern  began  among  these  Indians  twenty. six  years 
since;  that  their  pious  minister  is  one  of  their  own  number, 
Mr.  Samuel  Niles;  and  that  now  mi-mv  of  their  children  are 
able  to  read  the  New  Testament  to  their  parents." 

There  are  several  other  tribes  of  Indians  in  New- England, 
not  far  distant  from  this  tribe,  that  have  received  the  Chris- 
tian religion;  a  number  of  whom,  as  I  am  credibly  informed, 
in  the  judgment  of  charity,  give  evidence  of  their  being  real 
Christians,  and  have  occasional  communion  with  those  of 
the  Narraganset  church,  particularly  about  thirty  or  forty  of 
the  JVlohegan  Indians;  about  twenty  of  the  Pequot  tribe; 
six  or  seven  of  the  Neantick  tribe.  Both  these  tribes  live  in 
the  colony  of  Connecticut.  There  are  also  some  of  the 
Stonington  ti'ibe,  that  have  occasionally  communion  with 
the  Narraganset's,  and  about  fifteen  or  sixteen  of  the  Mon- 
tawk  tribe  of  Indians,  who  live  upon  the  east  end  of  Long 
Island,  and  for  several  years  had  the  Rev.  Mr.  Horton  to 
preach  among  them.  These  sometimes  cross  the  Sound, 
in  order  to  join  the  above  church  in  its  divine  ordinances," — 
Beatty's  Journal  of  a  two  Months  Tour.  p.  54 


488  Appendix. 

The  state  of  religion  among  the  Narraganset  Indians,  ib 
not,  however,  at  present  so  flourishing;  though  there  is  still 
the  remains  of  a  Christian  church  among  them.  In  1809 
they  were  visited  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Coe,  who  has  furnished 
us  with  the  following  particulars  concerning  them:  "  The 
whole  number  of  Indians  at  Charlestown,  considered  as  of 
the  Narraganset  tribe,  is  about  one  hundred  and  forty,  or 
one  hundred  and  fifty  souls.  One  half  of  this  number  may 
be  under  the  age  of  twenty-iive  years,  and  may  learn  to  read. 
By  intemperance  and  inattention  to  business,  they  are  all 
reduced  to  poverty,  some  to  an  extreme  degree.  They  are 
subject  to  the  general  laws  of  the  state  of  Rhode  Island;  but 
their  internal  affairs  are  under  the  direction  of  a  council  of 
five  men  of  their  ovv^n  nation,  and  one  White  man,  appointed 
by  the  state.  By  them  lands  are  leased;  provision  made 
for  the  poor;  and  the  persons  belonging  to  the  tribe  ascer- 
tained. The  quantity  of  their  land  is  estimated  at  about 
three  square  miles;  most  of  the  valuable  part  of  which  is  let 
out  upon  hire;  a  large  portion  is  reserved  for  wood  and  tim- 
ber; and  a  small  part  is  in  tillage.  Very  few  pure-blooded 
Indians  are  now  on  the  land,  as  they  have  for  ages  past  been 
intermixing  with  Whites  and  Blacks.  None  are  entitled 
to  any  part  of  the  inheritance,  except  those  who  have  de- 
scended from  their  females;  hence  a  number  of  others,  of 
mixed  nations,  live  among  them,  who,  by  their  customs,  arc 
not  of  the  tribe. 

"  Their  Christian  church,  composed  of  persons  of  differ- 
ent nations,  consists  of  between  fort}^  and  fifty  members. 
They  had  a  preacher  of  their  own,  John  Segeter,  who  died 
about  two  years  since.  He  could  read,  and  was  a  man  of 
some  information.  They  still  carry  on  worship  on  the 
Lord's  day  among  themselves;  and  have  the  only  place  of 
worship  now  in  the  town.  A  school- house  was  formerly 
built  by  the  Society  in  England  for  Propagating  the  Gospel, 
and  a  free-school  was  supported  for  thtir  instruction,  until 
the  commencement  of  the  revolutionary  war,  after  which  all 
provisions  of  that  kind  was  discontinued;  and  their  shool- 
house  has  lately  been  blown  down.  They  are  favourably 
disposed  to  the  education  of  their  children.  When  a  school 
was  kept  three  winters  ago  about  two  miles  from  them,  lif- 
teen  Indian  children  went  to  it;  and  when  they  heard  the 
White  people  talked  of  opening  a  school  among  them,  they 
took  a  great  inteiest  in  the   subject,  and  made  inquiries  in 


Missions  of  Inferior  Note.  489 

Newport,  from  time  to  time,  respecting  it.  In  consequence 
of  this  favourable  report,  measures  have  been  taken  for  the 
establishment  of  a  school  among  them;  which,  we  hope,  will 
be  attended  with  beneficial  effects, — Morse's  Sermon  before 
the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  among  the  Indians 
and  others  in  North  America,  p.  56. 


THE  REV.  SAMSON  OCCOM. 

The  Rev.  Samson  Occom,  one  of  the^lohegan  tribe  of 
Indians  in  Connecticut,  was  converted  to  Christianity,  with 
many  others  of  his  countrymen,  in  1741,  when  he  was  about 
seventeen  years  of  age.  He  was  the  first  who  was  educated 
at  Dr.  Wheelock's  Indian  school,  and  he  was  afterwards  or- 
dained to  the  ministry  by  a  presbytery  on  Long  Island, 
where  lie  preached  to  a  i>mal1  number  of  Indians,  who  were 
once  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Ilorton.  In  1761,  a  proposal  hav- 
ing been  made  to  him  to  engage  in  a  mission  to  the  Oneida 
Indians,  who  had  of  late  expressed  an  earnest  desire  thafra 
minister  might  settle  among  them,  he  agreed  to  go  cfnd 
make  a  trial.  On  his  arrival  among  them,  he  met  with  a 
favourable  reception  from  them;  and  in  the  course  of  the 
summer,  he  baptized  five  or  six  persons. — Account  of  some 
late  Attempts  to  Christianize  the  North  American  Indians, 
1765,  p.  3. 

In  this  situation,  Mr.  Occom  appears  to  have  continued 
till  about  1766,  when  he  came  over  to  Britain  along  with 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Whitaker,  in  order  to  make  collections  for  the 
Indian  Charity  School,  established  by  Dr.  Wheelock  at  Leb» 
anon,  in  Connecticut;  and  their  mission,  as  will  be  seen  in 
our  account  of  that  institution,  was  attended  with  singular 
and  unprecedented  success.  He  was,  we  suppose,  the  first 
and  indeed  the  only  Indian  preacher,  who  ever  visited  the 
British  isles. 

After  his  return  to  America,  he  continued  to  labour  as  a 
missionary  among  the  Indians,  though,  during  the  American 
war,  it  is  probable,  his  operations  would  be  materially  intej^ 
rupted,  if  not  even  entirely  suspended.  About  1768,  he  Wj^ 
moved  with  the  Indians  under  his  care,  from  the  neighbour- 
hood of  New-London,  in  Connecticut,  to  the  Oneida  country, 
where  they  were  presented  with  a  considerable  tract  of  land 
by  the  Oneida  Indians,  and  which  was  coufirme<J  to  them 
VOL.  n.  3  Q 


490  Appendix, 

by  the  state  of  New- York.  Here  they  divided  their  lands^ 
so  that  each  irdividual  holds  his  property  as  an  estate  in  fee 
simple,  with  this  restriction,  that  it  shall  never  be  sold  to  the 
White  people.  By  this  regulation,  they  have  acquired  a 
decided  superiority  over  their  brethren,  the  Oneidas,  Tus- 
caroras,  &c.  American  Corres])ondence  among  the  Records 
of  the  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian  Know- 
ledge, MSS.  vol  i.  p.  144.  Collections  of  the  Massachusett 
Historical  Society,  vol.  iv.  p.  68;  vol.  v.  p.  26. 

About  the  tima^hat  Mr.  Occom  removed  with  the  Indians 
to  the  Oneida  country,  he  preached  a  sermon  at  New-  Haven, 
at  the  execution  of  Moses  Paul,  an  Indian  who  had  been 
guilty  of  murder.  Tlie  text  was,  Rom.  vi.  23.  "  The 
wages  of  sin  is  death;  but  the  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life, 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  As  this  discourse  was  af- 
terwards published,  we  shall  quote  his  concluding  address 
to  the  criminal  as  a  specimen  of  Indian  eloquence: 
*'  My  poor  unhappy  brother,  Moses, 

'*  As  it  was  your  own  desire,  that  I  should  preach  to  you 
tilts  last  discourse,  so  I  shall  speak  plainly  to  you.  You  are 
bone  of  my  bone,  and  flesh  of  my  flesh.  You  are  an  Indian, 
a  despised  creature;  but  you  have  despised  yourself;  yea, 
you  have  despised  God  more;  you  have  trodden  under  foot 
his  authority;  you  have  despised  his  commands  and  precepts. 
And  now,  as  God  says,  *  Be  sure  your  sins  will  find  you 
out;'  so  now  poor  Moses,  your  sins  have  found  you  out,  and 
they  have  overtaken  you  this  day.  The  day  of  your  death 
is  Vi(y\v  come;  the  king  of  terrors  is  at  hand;  you  have  but  a 
very  few  moments  to  breath  in  this  world.  The  just  laws 
of  man,  and  the  holy  law  of  Jehovah,  call  aloud  for  the  de- 
struction of  your  mortal  life.  God  says,  *  Whoso  sheddeth 
man's  blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be  shed.'  This  is  the 
ancient  decree  of  heaven,  and  it  is  to  be  executed  by  man; 
nor  have  you  the  least  gleam  of  hope  of  escape,  for  the  un- 
alterable sentence  is  past;  the  terrible  day  of  execution  is 
come;  the  unwelcome  guard  is  about  you;  and  the  fatal  in- 
struments  of  death  are  now  made  ready;  your  coffin  and 
ymxr  grave,  your  last  lodging,  are  open  to  receive  you. 
«  Alas!  poor  Moses,  now  you  know,  by  sad,  by  Avoeful  ex- 
perience, tlie  living  truth  of  our  text,  that  "  the  wages  of  sin 
is  death."  You  have  been  already  dead;  yea,  twice  dead;  by 
nature,  spiritually  dead;  and  since  the  awful  sentence  of  death 
has  been  passed  upon  you,  you  liave  been  dead  to  all  the 


Tyfissio?7s  of  Inferior  Note,  491 

pleasures  of  this  life;  or  all  the  pleasures,  lawful  or  unlaw- 
ml,  have  been  dead  to  you.  And  death,  which  is  the  wages 
of  sin,  is  standing  even  on  this  side  of  your  grave,  ready  to 
put  a  final  [X?riod  to  your  mortal  life;  and  just  beyond  the 
grave,  eternal  death  awaits  your  poor  soul,  and  the  devils 
are  ready  to  drag  your  nnserable  soul  down  to  their  bottom- 
less den,  where  everlasting  woe  and  horror  reign;  the  place 
is  filled  with  doleful  shrieks,  howls,  and  groans  of  the 
damned.  Oh!  to  what  a  miserable,  forlorn,  and  wretched 
condition  liave  your  extravagant  folly  andwickedness  brought 
you,  that  is  if  you  die  in  your  sins  And,  U!  what  manner 
of  repentance  ought  you  to  manifest!  How  ought  your 
heart  to  bleed  for  what  you  have  done!  How  ought  you  to 
prostrate  your  soul  before  a  bleeding  God,  and  under  self- 
condemnation,  cry  out,  "  i\Ji  Lord,  h\\  Lord,  ^vhat  have  I 
done!"  Whatever  partiality,  injustice,  and  error,  there  may 
be  among  the  judges  of  the  earth,  remember  that  you  have 
deserved  a  thousand  deaths,  and  a  thousand  hells,  by  rea- 
son of  your  sins,  at  the  hands  of  a  holy  God.  Should  God 
come  out  against  you  in  strict  justice,  alas!  what  could  yoii 
say  for  yourself.  For  you  have  been  brought  up  under  the 
bright  sun-shine,  and  plain  and  loud  sound  of  the  gospel; 
and  you  have  had  a  good  education;  you  can  read  and  write 
well;  and  God  has  given  you  a  good  natural  understanding; 
and  therefore  your  sins  are  so  much  more  aggravated.  You 
have  not  sinned  in  such  an  ignorant  manner  as  others  have 
done;  but  you  have  sinned  with  both  your  eyes  open,  as  it 
were,  under  the  light,  even  the  glorious  light  of  the  gospel 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  You  have  sinned  against  the  light 
of  your  own  conscience,  against  your  knowledge  and  under- 
standing; you  have  sinned  against  the  pure  and  holy  laws  of 
God,  and  the  just  laws  of  men;  you  have  sinned  against  hea- 
ven and  earth;  you  have  sinned  against  all  the  mercies  and 
goodness  of  God;  you  have  sinned  against  the  whole  Bible, 
against  the  Old  and  New  Testament;  you  have  sinned  against 
the  blood  of  Cljrist,  which  is  the  blood  of  the  everlasting 
covenant.  O  poor  Moses,  see  what  you  have  done!  and  now 
repent,  repent,  I  say  again  repent.  See  how  the  blood  3'ou 
shed  cries  against  you,  and  tn<?avenger  of  blood  is  at  your 
heels. .  O  fly,  fly  to  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  of  God,  for  the 
pardon  of  all  your  aggravated  sins. 

But  let  us  now  turn  to  a  more  pleasant  theme.     Though 
you  have  been  a  great  signer,  a  heaven-daring  siruicr,  yet' 


492  appendix* 

hark!  O  hear  the  joyful  sound  from  heaven,  even  from  the 
King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords;  that  "the  gift  of  God  is 
eternal  life,  throui^h  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  It  is  a  free 
gift,  and  bestowed  on  the  greatest  sinners;  and  upon  their 
true  repentance  towards  God,  and  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  they  shall  be  welcome  to  the  life  which  we  have  spo- 
ken of.  It  is  granted  u]>on  free  terms:  he  that  hath  no  mo- 
ney may  come;  he  that  hath  no  righteousness,  no  goofiness 
may.  come:  the  call  is  to  poor  undone  sinners;  the  call  is  not 
to  the  righteous,  bftt  siimers,  inviting  them  to  repentance. 
Hear  the  voice  of  the  son  of  the  Most  High  God,  "  Come 
unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will 
give  you  rest."  This  is  a  call,  a  gracious  call  to  you,  poor 
Moses,  under  your  present  burdens  and  distresses  And 
Chri:5t  has  a  right  to  call  sinners  to  himself.  It  would  be  pre- 
sumption for  a  mighty  angel  to  call  a  poor  sinner  to  himself; 
and  were  it  possible  for  you  to  apply  to  all  God's  creatures, 
they  would  with  one  voice  tell  you,  that  it  was  not  in  them  to 
help  you.  Goto  all  the  means  of  grace,  they  would  prove 
miserable  helps  vv  ithout  Christ  himself.  Yea,  apply  to  all 
the  ministers  of  the  gospel  in  the  world,  they  would  all  say, 
that  it  was  not  m  them,  but  would  only  prove  as  indexes,  to 
point  out  to  you  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  only  Saviour  of  sinners 
of  mankind.  Yea,  go  to  all  the  angels  in  heaven,  they  would 
do  the  same.  Yea,  go  to  God  the  Father  himself,  without 
Christ,  he  wouid  not  help  you.  To  speak  after  the  manner 
of  nien,  he  would  also  point  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
say,  ''  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  ivell  pleased, 
hear  ye  him."  Thus,  you  see,  poor  Moses,  that  there  is 
none  in  fieaven,  or  on  the  earth,  that  can  help  you,  but  Christ: 
he  alone  has  power  to  save  and  to  give  you  life.  God  the 
Father  appointed  him,  chose  him,  authorised  and  fully  com- 
missioned him  to  save  sinners.  He  came  down  from  hea- 
ven into  this  lower  world,  and  became  as  one  of  us,  and 
stood  in  our  room.  He  was  the  second _  Adam.  And  as 
God  demanded  perfect  obedience  of  the  first  Adam,  the  se- 
cond fulfilled  it;  and  as  the  first  sinned  and  incurred  the  wrath 
and  anger  of  God,  the  second  endured  it;  he  suffered  in  our 
room.  As  he  became  sin  ffir  us,  he  was  a  man  of  sorrows 
and  ac(|uainted  with  grief;  all  our  stripes  were  laid  upon  him. 
Yea,  he  was  finally  condemned,  because  we  were  under  con- 
demnation; and  at  last  was  executed  and  put  to  death  for  our 
sins;  was  lifted  up  between  the  heaven  and  the  earth,  and  was 


Missions  of  hiferior  JVote.  49'3 


crucified  on  the  accursed  tree:  his  blessed  hands  and  ftet 
were  fastened  there; — there  he  died  a  shameful  and  ignomin-  r, 
ious  death;  there  he  finished  the  great  work  ot"  our  redcmp- 
ti^pi  there  his  heart's  blood  was  shed  for  our  cleansing;  there 
he  fully  satisfied  the  divine  justice  of  God,  for  penitent  be- 
lieving sinners,  though  they  have  been  the  chief  of  sinners. 
O  JVIoses,  this  is  good  news  lo  you,  in  this  last  day  of  your 
life.  Behold  a  crucified  Saviour;  his  blessed  hands  are  out- 
stretched all  in  a  gore  of  blood.  This  is  the  only  Saviour,  an 
Almighty  Saviounpust  such  as  you  stand  in  infinite  and  per- 
ishing need  of.  U,  poor  Moses,  hear  the  dying  prayer  of  a 
gracious  Saviour  on  the  accursed  tree,  "  Father  forgive  them, 
for  they  know  not  what  they  do."  This  was  a  pra\er  for 
his  enemies  and  murderers;  and  it  is  tor  all  who  repent  and 
believe  in  him.  O  why  will  you  die  eternally,  poor  Moses, 
since  Christ  has  died  for  sinners?  Why  will  you  go  to  hell 
beneath  the  bleeding  Saviour,  as  it  were?  This  is  the  day  of 
your  execution,  yet  it  is  the  accepted  time,  it  is  the  day  of 
salvation,  if  you  now  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Must 
Christ  follow  you  into  the  prison  by  his  servants,  and  there 
intreat  you  to  accept  of  eternal  life;  and  will  you  refuse  it? 
And  must  he  follow  you  even  to  the  gallows,  and  there  be- 
seech you  to  accept  of  him,  and  will  you  refuse  him?  Shall 
he  be  crucified  hard  by  your  gallows,  as  it  were,  and  will 
you  regard  him  not?  O,  poor  Moses,  believe  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  with  all  your  heart,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved  eter- 
nally. Come  just  as  you  are,  with  all  your  sins  and  abomi- 
nations,  with  all  your  blood  guiltiness,  will  all  your  condem- 
nation, and  lay  hold  of  the  hope  set  before  you  this  dav. 
This  is  the  last  day  of  salvation  with  your  soul;  you  will  be 
beyond  the  bounds  of  mercy  in  a  few  minutes  more.  O,, 
what  a  joyful  day  will  it  be,  if  you  now  openly  believe  in, 
and  receive  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  it  would  be  the  beginning 
of  heavenly  days  with  your  poor  soul;  instead  of  a  melan- 
choly day,  it  would  be  a  wedding-day  to  your  soul:  it  would 
cause  tlie  very  angels  of  heaven  to  rejoice,  and  the  saints  on 
earth  to  be  glad;  it  would  cause  the  angels  to  come  down 
from  the  realms  above,  and  wait  hovering  about  your  gal- 
lows, ready  to  convey  your  soul  to  the  heavenly  mansions, 
thejre  to  take  the  possession  of  eternal  glory  and  happiness, 
and  join  the  heavenly  choirs  ift  singing  the  song  of  Moses 
and  the  Lamb;  there  to  sit  down  forever  with  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in  the  kingdom  of  Gocl's  glory;  and  yoiir 


494  Appendix. 

sflpe  and  guilt  shall  be  forever  banished  from  the  place^ 
'gano^ll  sorrow  and  fear  forever  fly  away,  and  tears  be  wiped 
from  your  face;  and  there  shall  you  forever  admire  the^ 
tonishing,  and  amazing,  and  infinite  mercy  of  God  in  Ci 
Jesus,  in  pardoning  such  a  monstrous  sinner,  as  you  hWe 
been;  there  you  will  claim  the  highest  note  of  praise,  for  the 
riches  of  free  grace  in  Christ  Jesus.  But  if  you  will  not  ac- 
cept of  a  Saviour  proposed  to  your  acceptance  in  this  last 
day  of  your  life,  you  must  this  very  day  bid  farewell  to  God 
the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  to  heavjn,  and  all  the  saints 
and  angels  that  are  there;  and  you  must  bid  all  the  saints  in 
this  lower  world  an  eternal  farewell,  and  even  to  the  whole 
world.  And  so  I  must  leave  you  in  the  hands  of  God." — A 
Sermon  at  the  execution  of  Moses  Paul,  an  Indian:  By  Sam- 
son Occom,  1788,  p.  16. 

Mr.  Occom  lived  several  years  after  this,  but  it  appears 
that  he  was  dead  in  1796,  when  the  Rev.  Drs.  Morse  and 
Belknap  visited  the  Oneida  country.  The  Indians  who  had 
been  under  his  care  lived  at  a  place  called  Brothertown,  and 
vi^ere  150  in  number.  They  -were  all  professed  Christians, 
but  they  were  then  without  a  pastor. — Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  vol. 
V.  p.   13. 

According  to  very  recent  accounts,  the  Brothertown  tribe 
consists  of  302  persons.  They  possess  a  track  of  land  con- 
sisting of  9390  acres,  divided  into  lots  of  from  fifty  to  a  hun- 
dred acres  each,  of  which  about  two  thousand  are  improved. 
The  produce  of  their  land  the  last  season  (we  suppose  1812,) 
amounted  to  about  2870  bushels  of  wheat,  5690  bushels  of 
Indian  corn,  700  bushels  of  rye,  1860  bushels  of  oats,  90 
bushels  of  pease,  3450  bushels  of  potatoes,  and  about  290 
tons  of  hay:  but  about  one  half  of  this  produce  was  raised 
on  shares  by  White  people.  The  stock  in  this  tribe  consists 
of  90  milch  cows,  SO  horses,  16  yoke  of  oxen,  93  young 
cattle,  88  sheep,  and  a  great  number  of  swine.     Tlicy  have 

16  framed  houses,  and  18  framed  barns,  one  grist-mill  be- 
longing to  the  tribe,  and  two  saw-mills  belonging  to  indivi- 
duals. Their  implements  of  husbandry  consist  of  21  ploi^hs, 

17  sleds,  3  carts,  and  3  waggons.  Their  mechanics  are  4 
carpenters,  2  blacksmiths,  4  shoe-makers,  ^  tailors,  and  5 
weavers.  Their  manufactures  last  year  (we  suppose  IS  12) 
amounted  to  about  320  yard^of  woollen  cloth,  and  v  00  yards 
of  linen.  They  have  5  looms,  and  are  generally  supplied 
\»lth  wool  and  flax  spinning-wheels,  axes,  hoes,  scythes,  &c. 


Missio7is  of  Inferior  Note.  495 

it  is  a  melancholy  fact,  however,  that  within  the  short  dis- 
tance of  seven  or  eight  miles,  there  are  no  less  than  nine 
stills,  which  consume  annually  about  30,000  bushels  of  grain, 
and  produce  about  90,000  gallons  of  spirits.  A  Summary 
Account  of  the  Measures  pursued  by  the  yearly  Meeting  of 
Friends  of  New- York  for  the  Civilization  of  the  Indians,  p. 
13,   19. 

By  the  same  account,  it  appears  that  the  Stockbridge  tribe 
(see  vol.  i,  civ.  sec.  iv.)  now  consists  of  475  persons.  They 
possess  six  square  miles  of  land,  except  1800  acres,  which  are 
let  on  lease.  About  1200  acres  are  improved,  on  which 
they  have  2  saw-mills,  1  grist-mill,  8  framed  houses,  and  7 
framed  barns.  The  remainder  of  their  buildings,  as  in  the 
other  tribes,  arc  of  logs  and  bark.  They  raised  in  the  year 
1811,  about  500  bushels  of  wheat,  2000  bushels  Indian  corn, 
and  plenty  of  potatoes,  beans  and  other  vegetables.  They 
have  26  horses,  20  pair  of  oxen,  51  milch  cows,  4i  young 
cattle,  56  sheep,  and  about  50  swine. — Ibid.  p.  14. 

The  Pagan  i)arty  of  the  Oneida  tribe,  whom  the  Quak- 
ers have  taken  under  their  care,  consists  of  440  persons 
in  fifty-one  families.  They  possess  19,000  acres  of  land 
of  which  500  are  improved.  They  raise  about  1200 
bushels  of  vv^heat,  and  1840  bushels  of  Indian  corn.  Their 
stock  consists  of  25  horses,  24  oxen,  33  milch  cows,  118 
young  cattle,  40  sheep,  and  100  swine.  There  are  in  the 
settlement  6  framed  houses,  6  framed  barns,  and  I  saw-mill. 
They  have  2  waggons  and  1 0  ploughs.     Ibid.  p.  1 1. 

The  Onondago  tribe  consists  of  about  250  persons.  They 
possess  12,000  acres  of  land,  of  which  between  five  and  six 
hundred  are  improved.  They  raised  the  last  season  (we 
suppose  1812)  450  bushels  of  wheat,  and  1400  bushels  of 
Indian  corn,  besides  considerablelSmantities  of  different  hinds 
of  vegetables.  Their  stock  consists  of  6  pair  of  oxen,  10 
milch  cows,  and  some  young  cattle;  and  their  implements 
of  husbandry  of  a  few  ploughs,  harrows,  &c — Ibid.  p.  14. 

Each  of  the  tribes  receives  a  small  annuity  from  the 
government,  arising  from  a  sale  of  part  of  their  lands. — Ibid, 
p.  15, 

THE  REV.  SAMUEL  DAVIES. 

In  1747,  the  Rev,  Samuel  Davies,  who  was  afterwards 
president  of  New- Jersey  college,  began  to  preach  at  Hanover 


4.96  Appendix. 

and  the  neighbouring  parts  of  Virginia.  Besides  labouring 
with  great  success  among  the  White  people,  he  was  the 
happy  instrument  of  bringing  many  of  the  Negro  slaves  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  gospel.  In  a  lettep  writen  in  1755 
to  a  gentleman  who  was  a  member  of  the  Society  in  Lon- 
don for  promoting  Religious  Knowledge  among  the  Poor, 
he  gives  the  following  pleasmg  at:count  of  the  appearances 
of  religion  among  them.  "  The  inhabitants  of  Virginia  are 
computed  to  be  about  300,000  men,  the  one  half  of  which 
number  are  supposed  to  be  Negroes.  The  number  of  those 
who  attend  my  ministry  at  particular  times  is  uncertain,  but 
generally  about  300,  who  give  a,  stated  attendance;  and 
never  have  I  been  so  struck  with  the  appearance  of  an  as- 
sembly, as  when  I  have  glanced  my  eye  to  that  part  of  the 
meeting-house  where  they  usually  sit,  adorned^  for  so  it  has 
appeared  to  me,  with  so  many  black  countenances  eagerly 
attentive  to  every  word  they  hear,  and  frequently  bathed  in 
tears.  A  considerable  number  of  them  (about  an  hundred) 
have  been  baptized,  after  a  proper  time  for  instruction,  and 
having  given  credible  evidences,  not  only  of  their  acquain- 
tance with  the  important  doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion, 
but  also  a  deep  sense  of  them  upon  their  minds,  attested  by 
a  life  of  strict  piety  and  holiness.  As  they  are  not  sufficiently 
polished  to  dissemble  with  a  good  grace,  they  express  the 
sentiments  of  their  souls  so  much  in  the  language  of  simple 
nature,  and  with  such  genuine  indications  of  sincerity,  that 
it  is  impossible  to  suspect  their  professions,  especially  when 
attended  with  a  truly  Christian  life  and  exemplary  conduct. — 
My  worthy  friend  Mr.  Tod,  minister  of  the  next  congre- 
gation, has  near  the  same  number  under  his  instructions, 
who,  he  tells  me,  discover  the  same  serious  turn  of  mind. 
Jn  sfeort,  sir,  there  are  miJlitudes  of  them,  in  different  places, 
who  are  willing  and  eagerly  desirous  to  be  instructed,  and 
embrace  every  opportunity  of  acquainting  themselves  with 
the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  and  though  they  have  generally 
very  little  help  to  learn  to  read,  yet  to  my  agreeable  surprise, 
many  of  them,  by  the  dint  of  application  in  their  leisure 
hours,  have  made  such  a  progress,  that  they  can  read  a  plain 
author  intelligibly,  and  especially  their  Bibles,  and  pity  it  is 
that  any  of  them  should  be  without  them.  Some  of  them 
have  the  misfortune  to  have  irreligious  masters,,  and  hardly 
any  of  them  are  so  happy  as  to  be  furnished  with  these  as- 
sistances for  their  improvement.     Before  I  had  the  pleasure 


Missions  of  Inferior  JVote*  4i97 

or  being  admitted  a  member  of  your  society,  they  were  wont 
frequently  to  come  to  me  with  such  moving  accounts  of 
their  necessities  in  this  respect,  that  I  coiiid  not  help  sup- 
plying them  with  books  to  the  utmost  of  my  small  abilities; 
and  when  I  distributed  those  amongst  them  which  my 
friends,  with  you,  sent  over,  I  had  reason  to  think  that  I 
never  did  an  action  in  all  my  life  that  met  with  so  much  grat- 
itude from  the  receivers.  I  liave  already  distributed  all  the 
books  that  I  brought  over,  which  were  proper  for  them. 
Yet  still  on  Saturday  evenings,  the  only  time  they  can  spare, 
my  house  is  crowded  with  numbers  of  them,  whose  very- 
countenances  still  carry  the  air  of  importunate  petitioners 
for  the  same  favours  with  those  who  came  before  them. 
But,  atas!  my  stock  is  exhausted,  and  I  must  send  them 
away  grieved  and  disappointed. — Permit  mc,  sir,  to  be  an. 
advocate  with  you,  and  by  your  means,  with  your  generouis 
friends,  in  their  behalf.  The  books  I  principally  want  for 
them  arc  Watts'  Psalms  and  Hymns,  and  Bibles.  The  two 
first  they  cannot  be  supplied  with  any  other  way  than  by  a 
collection,  as  they  are  not  among  the  books  which  your  so- 
ciety gi^•e  away.  I  am  the  rather  importunate  for  a  good 
number  of  these,  as  I  cannot  but  observe  that  the  Negroes, 
above  all  the  human  species  that  I  ever  knew,  have  an  ear 
for  music,  and  a  kind  of  ecstatic  delight  in  psalmody;  and 
there  are  no  books  they  leai'n  so  soon,  or  take  so  much  plea- 
sure in,  as  those  used  in  that  heavenly  part  of  divine  worship. 
Some  gentlemen  in  London  were  pleased  to  make  me  a  pri- 
vate present  of  these  books  for  their  use;  and  from  the  recep- 
W)\\  they  met  with,  and  their  eagerness  for  more,  I  can  easily 
foresee  how  acceptable  and  useful  a  larger  number  would 
be  among  them.  Indeed,  nothing  would  be  a  greater  in- 
ducement to  their  industry  to  learn  to  read,  than  the  hope  of 
such  a  present,  which  they  would  consider  both  as  a  help  and 
a  reward  for  their  diligence." 

Having  obtained  a  further  supply  of  books  from  Londoa 
lor  the  Negroes,  Mr.  Davies,  in  a  letter  to  the  same  gentle- 
man, gives  tlie  following  account  of  tlie  manner  in  which 
they  were  received  by  them.  *'  For  some  time  after  the 
books  arrived,  the  poor  slaves,  whenever  they  could  get  aii 
hour's  leisure  from  their  masters,  would  hurry  away  to  my 
house,  to  receive  the  charity  with  all  the  genuine  indications 
of  passionate  gratitude,  which  unpolished  nature  could  give, 
and  which  affectation  and  grimace  would  mimick  in  \t\\xu 

VOL.   If.  3  R 


498  Appendix,  * 

The  books  were  all  very  acceptaole,  but  hone  more  so  than 
the  Psalms  and  Hymns,  which  enable  them  to  gratify  their 
pc; uliai  taste  for  i  salmody.  Sundry  of  them  have  lodged 
ail  liight  in  my  kitcuen,  and  sometimes  when  I  have  awaked 
about  two  or  three  o'clock  in  the  moriiing,  a  torrent  of  sa- 
cred harmony  poured  into  my  chamber,  and  carried  my  mind 
av/ay  to  heaven.  In  this  seraphic  exercise,  some  of  them 
spend  almost  the  whole  night.  I  wish,  sir,  you  and  tt^eir 
otJ.jer  benefactors  could  hear  any  of  these  sacred  concerts. 
I  am  persuaded  it  would  surprise  and  please  you  more  than 
an  Oratorio,  or  a  St.  Cecilia's  day."  Mr.  Davies  afterwards 
adds,  that  two  Sabbaths  before,  he  had  the  pleasure  of  see- 
ing forty  of  them  around  the  table  of  the  Lord,  all  of  whom 
made  a  credible  profession  of  Christianity,  and  several  of 
them  with  imusual  evidence  of  suicerity;  and  that  he  be- 
lieved there  were  more  than  a  thousand  Negroes,  who  at- 
tended upon  his  ministry  at  the  different  places  where  he 
alternately  officiated. — Gilles'  Historical  Collections,  vol.  i. 
p.  334;  Appendix  to  the  Historical  Collections,  p.  29,  37, 
40,  42. 

THE  NEW-YORK  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY. 

In  1800,  the  New- York  Missionary  Society  sent  the  Rev. 
E.  Holmes  on  an  exploratory  mission  to  some  of  the  north- 
western tribes  of  Indians. 

Having  arrived  among  the  Tuscaroras,  near  the  falls  of 
Niagara,  he  met  with  a  very  friendly  reception  from  them. 
Before  he  left  them,  several  of  their  sachems  and  warriclH 
addressed  a  letter  to  the  New-York  Missionary  Society,  in 
which  they  i^nplore  their  assistance  and  compassion  in  the 
foiiovving  affecting  strains:  "  Fathers  and  brothers,  we  should 
be  very  glad  to  have  our  father  Holmes  to  live  among  us, 
or  any  other  good  man  that  you  would  send,  to  teach  us  the 
meaning  of  the  behoved  speech  in  the  good  book  called  the 
Bible;  for  we  are  in  darkness;  we  are  very  ignorant;  we  are 
poor.  Now,  fathers  and  brothers,  you  have  much  light; 
you  are  wise  and  rich.  Only  two  of  our  nation  can  read  in 
tlie  good  book  the  Bible:  we  wish  our  children  to  learn  to 
retid,  that  they  may  be  civilized  and  happy  when  we  are 
gone,  that  they  may  understand  the  good  speech  better  than 
we  can.  We  feel  much  sorrow  for  our  children.  We  ask 
you,  fathers  and  brothers,  will  you  not  pity  us  and  our  poor 


Missions  of  Inferior  J\'ote.  499 

children,  and  send  a  school-master  to  teach  our  children  to 
read  and  write?  If  }oii  will,  we  will  rejoice,  we  will  love 
him,  we  will  do  all  we  can  to  make  him  happy." 

After  noticing  the  opposition  \\hich  'some  of  the  Indians 
had  shewn  to  such  benevolent  attempts  of  the  White  people, 
and  the  abandonment  of  the  scheme  in  consequence  of  this, 
they  add,  "  We  are  sorry  Indians  have  done  so;  we  are 
afraid  some  of  us  shall  do  so  too;  and  that  the  Great  Spirit 
will  be  angry  with  us;  and  you  being  discouraged,  will  stop 
and  sa}%  "  Let  them  alone;  there  is  nothing  to  be  done  with 
Indians." 

Fathers  and  brothers,  hearken.  We  cr}^  to  you  from  the 
wilderness;  our  liearts  ache,  whil%  we  speak  to  your  ears. 
If  such  wicked  things  should  be  done  by  any  of  us,  we  pray 
you  not  to  be  discouraged;  don't  stop,  Think,  poor  Indians 
must  die,  as  well  as  White  men.  We  pray  you,  therefore, 
never  to  give  over,  and  leave  poor  Indians;  but  follow  them 
in  dark  time;;;  and  let  our  children  always  lind  you  to  be  their 
fathers  and  friends  when  we  are  dead  and  no  more."  This 
expostulatory  letter  was  signed  by  two  sachems,  and  seven 
^varrior  chiefs. 

On  taking  leave  of  the  Tuscarora  Indians,  Mr.  Holmes 
proceeded  on  his  journey,  and  visited  the  Senecas,  who  re- 
sided at  Buffaloe  Creek.  From  them,  however,  he  did  not 
meet  with  a  reception  equally  favourable.  After  he  had,  at 
their  request,  preached  a  sermon  to  them,  the  chiefs  held  a 
consultation,  o\\  the  subject  of  the  mission;  upon  which  Red 
Jacket,  the  second  sachem,  a  cunning  artful  man,  rose  and 
delivered  a  speech,  in  which,  among  other  things,  he  said, 
"  Father,  we  thank  the  Great  Good  Spirit  above,  for  what 
you  have  spoken  to  us  at  this  time,  an^  hope  he  will  always 
incline  your  heart,  and  strengthen  you  to  this  good  work. 
We  have  clearly  understood  you,  and  this  is  all  truth  that 
you  have  said  to  us. 

Father,  we  Indians  are  astonished  at  you  Whites,  that 
when  Jesus  Christ  was  among  you,  and  went  about  doing 
good,  speaking  the  good  word,  healing  the  sick,  and  casting 
out  evil  spirits,  that  you  White  people  did  not  pay  attention 
to  him,  and  believe  in  him;  and  that  you  put  him  to  death, 
when  you  had  the  good  book  in  your  possession. 

Fatiier,  we  Indians  were  not  near  to  this  transaction,  nor 
could  we  be  guilty  of  it. 


50O  Appendix. 

Father,  you  do  not  come  like  those  that  have  come  with 
a  bundle  under  their  arms,  or  something  in  their  hands;  but; 
we  have  always  found  something"  of  deceit  under  it,  for  they 
are  always  aiming  at  our  lands.  But  you  have  not  come  like 
one  of  these;  you  have  come  like  a  father  and  a  true  friend, 
to  advise  us  for  our  good.  We  expect  that  the  bright  chain 
of  friendship  shall  always  exist  between  us;  we  will  do  every 
thing  in  our  power  to  keep  that  chain  bright,  from  time  to 
time. 

Father,  you  and  your  good  society  well  know,  that  when 
learning  was  first  introduced  among  Indians,  they  became 
small;  and  two  or  three  nations  have  become  extinct;  and  we 
know  not  what  has  bccfme  of  them.  It  was  also  introdu- 
ced among  our  eldest  brothers  the  Mohawks,  and  we  im- 
mediately observed  that  their  seats  began  to  be  small;  this 
was  likewise  the  case  with  our  brothers  the  Oneidas.  Let 
us  look  back  to  the  situation  of  our  nephews  the  Mohegans; 
they  were  totally  routed  out  from  their  seats.  This  is  the 
reason  why  we  think  learning  would  be  of  no  service  to  us. 

Father,  we  are  astonished  that  the  White  people,  who 
have  the  good  book  called  the  Bible  among  them,  that  tells 
them  the  mind  and  will  of  the  Great  Spirit,  and  they  can 
read  it,  and  understand  it,  that  they  are  so  bad,  and  do  so 
many  wicked  things,  and  that  they  are  no  better. 

Father,  If  learning  should  be  introduced  among  us,  at 
present,  more  intrigue  or  craft  might  creep  in  among  us.  It 
might  be  the  means  of  our  suffering  the  same  misfortunes  as 
our  brothers.  Our  seat  is  now  but  small;  and  if  we  were  to 
leave  this  place,  we  should  not  know  where  to  find  another. 
We  do  not  think  we  should  be  able  to  find  a  seat  amongst 
our  Western  brothers." 

But  though  Red  Jacket's  speech  was  of  so  unfavourable 
a  nature,  yet  Farmer's  brother,  the  chief  sacliem  of  the  Sen- 
ecas,  offered  to  commit  his  grandson  to  the  care  of  the  New- 
York  Missionary  Society  in  order  to  be  educated  by  them, 
in  the  hope  he  might  afterwards  be  useful  to  his  nation. 
This  proof  of  confidence  was  the  more  extraordinary,  as  one 
of  his  grandsons  whom  he  had  committed  to  the  care  of  the 
United  States,  had,  instead  of  being  advanced  in  useful 
knowledge,  been  totally  ruined  in  respect  of  his  morals;  a 
circumstance  which  he  depicted  in  strong  and  lively  colours. 
Keport  of  the  New- York  Missionary  Society  for  1801,  an- 
jiexed  to  Abeel's  Sermon,  p.  46-. 


Missions  oflnffrior  Note*  501 

After  Mr.  Holmes'  return  to  NWv-York,  his  report  being 
of  so  encouraging  a  nature,  he  was  appointed  as  a  missionary 
to  the  North  Western  Indians,  particularly  the  TiiscaroraS 
and  the  Senecas,  near  the  falls  of  Niagara.  In  August  1801, 
he  accordingly  returned  to  settle  among  them,  and  irom  the 
former  he  again  met  with  the  most  hiA'ourable  reception. 
They  not  only  thankfully  listened  to  his  instructions,  but  ex- 
pressed a  desire  that  the  whole  of  their  nation,  scattered 
through  other  pqrts  \)f  the  country,  might  be  collected  to- 
gether to  that  place,  that  they  might  be  instructed  in  the 
gospel  of  Christ;  and,  indeed,  Mr..  Holmes  was  not  witliout 
hope,  that  a  number  of  them  had  been  brought  to  the  saving 
knowledge  of  divine  truth.  The  legislature  of  the  state  of 
New- York  having  appropriated  a  sum  of  money  for  the 
building  of  a  church  and  |.chool-house,  they  were  accord- 
ingly erected,  and  found  highly  convenient  for  the  purposes 
t)f  the  mission. 

From  the  Senecas,  Mr.  Holmes'  reception  was  of  a  less 
favourable  nature.  By  secret  artifice  and  open  calumny, 
the  Indian  impostor  called  the  prophet  of  the  Alleghany,  had 
(xcited  so  formidable  an  opposition  to  him,  that  the  sachems 
and  chiefs  referred  the  question  to  the  warriors,  whether 
he  should  be  allowed  to  preach  or  not;  and  t^  warriors,  in 
their  turn,  agreed  to  refer  it  to  the  prophet.  Wappily,  how- 
ever, this  manoeuvre  was  defeated,  through  the  zeal  and  in- 
trepidity of  Mr.  Holmes.  In  full  council,  he  delivered  his 
message  with  distinguished  fervour  and  fidelity,  setting  be- 
fore them,  on  the  one  l^and,  the  rich  mercies  of  God  in  Je- 
sus Clirist;  and,  on  the  other,  the  fearful  judgments  which 
they  would  incur,  by  their  unbelief.  This  boldness  appeared 
to  produce  the  happiest  effects.  The  progress  of  the  delu- 
sion was  arrested,  and  the  proi)het  began  to  lose  his  credit. 
To  this  a  quarrel  between  that  impostor  and  a  woman  whom 
they  call  a  prophetess,  contributed.  She  pretended  to  have 
been  caught  up  into  the  third  heavens,  but  the  prophet  refu- 
sed to  acknowledge  her,  and  the  contest  put  them  both  to 
shame.  After  some  further  consultation,  the  Indians  return- 
ed Mr.  Holmes  the  following  answer:  "  We  have  taken  time 
to  deliberate.  We  have  been  embarrassed  with  doubts. 
We  thought  not  proper  to  proceed  hastil}',  lest  not  having 
thoroughly  weighed  the  proposal,  we  should  do  wrong,  and 
have  reason  hereafter  to  repent  of  it."  They  then  proceeded 
fo  express  tlKir  willingness  to   listen  to  the  gospel;  and  to 


502  Appendix. 

desire  that  a  school  mignrDe  established  among  them.  In- 
deed, Mr.  Holmes  enjoyed  full  tranquillity  among  them;  and 
the  mission  appeared  to  be  more  firmly  established  than 
ever. — Report  of  the  New- York  Missionary  Society  for  1803, 
in  Religions  Monitor,  vol.  i-  p.  228.  See  also  Missionary 
Magazhie,  vol.  vii.  p.  384,  429. 

In.  December  1803,  Longboard,  one  of  their  chief  war- 
riors, passed  through  the  city  of  New- York,  on  his  return 
from  Washington,  whither  he  had^dne  to  transact  some 
business  relative  to  the  collection  and  civilization  of  his  peo- 
pie.  The  directors  of  the  Society  had  a  most  agreeable  in- 
terview with  him,  in  the  course  of  which  he  declared  the 
resolution  of  the  sachems,  and  of  the  rest  of  the  nation,  to 
mahitain  inviolable  their  friendship  with  the  Missionary  So- 
ciety, and  their  attachment  to|}ie  gospel,  notwithstanding 
all  the  difficulties  that  might  arise,  and  the  machinations  of 
their  enemies.  He  promised  to  communicate  an  account 
of  this  interview  to  his  nation;  requested  the  prayers  of  the 
society  for  his  safe  journey  home;  begged  them  to  sympa- 
thize with  his  weakness  and  ignorance,  as  it  was  but  a  short 
time  since  he  had  heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord;  and  declared 
his  hope,  that,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  the  whole  of  his 
nation  woulc^mbrace  the  gospel. 

But  notwimstanding  these  warm  professions  of  friendship, 
Longboard,   on  his  return  home,   became  the  advocate  of 
those  impostors  who  possess  so  much  influence  over  the 
credulous  Indians,  and  the    violent  enemy   of  the  mission. 
Conferences  and  councils  vv-ere  held  with  great  solemnity, 
to  decide  on  the  question,  Whether  they  should   give  any 
further  heed  to  the  gospel,  or  revert  to  the  religion  of  their 
forefathers?  Longboard  exerted  his  eloquence,  his  influence, 
and  his   address,   in  favour  of  their   old  superstition;  and 
when  he  saw  his  cause,  after  open  and  full  discussion,  losing 
j;Tound   among  the  men,  he  very  dexterously   resolved  to- 
ivavc  the  question  referred  to  the  judgment  of  the  women. 
But  even  this  expedient  failed.     With  a  modesty  and  mag- 
iumimity  which  he  had  not  anticipated,  they  declined  giving 
ciWj  opinion  on   the  merits  of  the  case;    but   reprobated  a 
breach  of  their  agreement  with  the  Missionary  Society.    At 
the  same  time,  the  providence  of  God  so  ordered,  that  a 
young  Indian,  who  had  received  some  education,  and  learn- 
ed a  trade  at  Albany,  was  present  at  this  council.     His  can- 
did and  manly  testimony  to  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  to  the 


-• 


Missions  of  Inferior  Xote,  50||^  • 

purity  of  the  views  with  which  the  mission  was  instituted, 
to  the  folly  of  the  dreamers,  and  the  danger  of  adhering  to 
them,  produced  a  powerful  eflect;  and  the  whole  dispute 
termmated  in  the  triumph  of  truth,  and  the  shame  of  its  op- 
posers. — Report  of  the  New- York  Missionary  Society  180.1., 
annexed  to  Livingston's  Sermon,  p.  80. 

Since  that  time,  say  the  directors  in  their  report,  x\pril 
1805,  every  thing  has  been  tranquil  and  prosperous.  The 
happy  influence  of  Christianity  is  now  conspicuous  in  the 
change  of  several  of  their  most  offensive  habits.  Their  sav- 
age dances  and  frolics  are  discontinued;  once  when  an  at- 
tempt was  made  by  some  of  the  nation  to  engage  in  an  ido- 
latrous feast,  a  suiiicient  number  could  not  be  collected  to 
carry  the  plan  into  execution.  They  have  renounced  the 
use  of  ardent  spirits,  and  their  rosolution  has  now  stood  the 
test  of  more  than  two  years  probation.  They  observe  the 
Lord's  day,  and  are  regular  and  respectful  in  their  attend- 
ance upon  divine  worship;  even  during  their  last  hunting 
excursion,  they  abstained  from  their  employment  on  the 
Sabbath.  A  number  of  their  youth  attended  the  school,  and 
their  proficiency  promises  to  be  of  the  highest  utility.  They 
are  much  attached  to  singing;  and  it  is  now  far  easier  to  as-, 
semble  their  young  men  for  a  lesson  in  psalmody,  than  for 
the  purposes  of  dissipation.  Among  the  many  proofs  of 
meliorated  society  among  the  Tuscaioras,  it  ought  not  to 
be  omitted,  that  the  loose  connection  of  the  sexes  is  grow- 
ing into  disrepute  and  the  marriage  contract  rising  into  es- 
teem. Old  Sachiressa,  their  venerable  sachem,  began.  He 
eame  forward  with  his  partner,  with  whom  he  had  lived  a 
long  series  of  years,  and  insisted  on  being  joined  to  her  ju 
presence  of  the  congregation,  by  a  Christian  marriage.  It 
was  the  first  instance  that  had  ever  occurred  in  the  nation, 
and  a  more  interesting  scene,  Mr.  Holmes  declares,  he  never 
witnessed.  His  example  has  since  been  followed  by  others; 
and  there  is  a  rational  prospect,  that  in  a  short  time  their  con- 
jugal relations  will  be  as  regular  and  sacred  as  in  Christian 
countries.  Sacliiressa  has  never  relaxed  in  his  ejo^rtions  for 
promoting  the  spiritual  interests  of  his  people.  His  public 
exhortations,  his  private  visits,  his  example,  his  entreaties, 
his  tears,  have  been  employed  with  a  vigilance,  a  perse ve- 
rence,  and  a  zeal,  as  might  put  thousands  in  the  Christian 
world  to  shame.  Indeed,  sq  sensible  are  they  of  the  impor- 
tance of  the  gospel,  that,  besides  attempting  to  collect  the 


"ijtfl^  Appendix: 

fragments  of  tlieir  own  nation  to  share  in  its  blessings,  they 
have  recently  sent  a  deputation  to  some  of  the  inferior  tribes> 
with  the  view  of  spreading  the  word  of  life,  and  urging  on 
their  brethren  the  duty  and  necessity  of  embracing  it — Re- 
port of  the  New- York  Missionary  Society,  1805,  p.  4. 

Mr.  Holmes'  connection  with  the  New- York  Missionary 
Society  was,  after  some  time,  dissolved;  and  he  was  suc- 
ceeded in  his  labours  among  the  Tuscarora  Indians  by  Mr. 
Andrew  Gray,  Sometimes  very  interesting  scenes  were 
exhibited  among  them.  One  day  Mr,  Gray  preached  from 
these  words:  "  For  as  many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
they  are  the  sons  of  God."  This  discourse  appeared  to 
make  a  deep  impression  on  the  mind  of  thfe  principal  sa- 
chem, who  immediately  on  the  close  of  the  service  arose  and 
addressed  his  countrymen  in  a  long  harangue.  Whilst  he 
was  thus  engaged,  Mr.  Gray  descended  from  the  pulpit,  and 
took  a  seat  among  tfie  hearers.  For  a  considerable  time 
the  chief  seemed  very  earnest.  At  last  his  voice  fauitered, 
he  sighed  deeply,  resumed  his  seat,  leaned  his  face  on  the 
head  of  his  cane,  and  the  tears  rolled  in  streams  down  his 
cheeks.  Mr.  Gray  enquired  the  cause,  and  was  informed 
•by  Cusick  his  interpreter,  that  in  his  speech  he  represented 
to  his  countrymen  the  great  benefits  which  he  himself  had 
derived  from  believing  in  Christ,  exhorted  them  to  open 
their  hearts  and  receive  the  same  privileges,  and  mourned 
over  their  stupidity  and  obstinacy.  Another  instance  of  a 
similar  kind  happened  still  more  lately.  Paulus,  a  profes- 
sor of  Christianity,  undertook,  one  Sabbath  morning  before 
divine  service,  as  he  often  does,  to  address  his  friends  on 
much  the  same  topics.  After  contiiiuing  his  talk  a  consid- 
erable time,  he  began  to  mourn  and  weep  over  the  hardness 
and  unbelief  of  his  countrymen.  His  distress  he  exhibited 
in  a  singular  manner,  by  his  voice,  his  gestures,  and  his 
shedding  of  tears. — Evan.  Mag.  vol.  xvii.  p.  478;  vol.  xviii. 
p.  368. 

With  the  view  of  educating  the  Indian  youth  in  the  Eng- 
lish langun^'e,  a  young  man  was  sent  to  the  Tuscarora  vil- 
lage to  estabii^  a  school  among  them.  Evan.  Mag.  vol.  xviii. 
p.  368.  The  Lancastrian  system  of  tuition  was  attempted; 
but  as  it  was  not  successful,  recourse  was  had  to  ihe  com- 
mon mode  cf  instruction.  In  1810,  the  school  was  aitmded 
by  twenty-four  children,  of  vvhom  eighteen  were  Indians, 


Missions  of  Inferior  JVote,  50S 

the  remaining  six  Whites. — Report  of  the  New- York  Mis. 
sionary  Society,  1810,  in  Panoplist,  vol.  ii.  p.  572. 

TliE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  OF  THE  PRESBYTEPJAN 
CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

• 

In  1803,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  PresbyterianChurch 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  sent  the  Rev.  Mr.  Black- 
burn on  a  mission  to  the  Cherokee  Indians.  Agreeably  to 
his  instructions,  he  embraced  an  early  opportunity  of  insti- 
tuting: a  school  on  the  Hiehvvassee  river  for  the  education  of 
their  children;  and  it  v\'as  not  long  before  it  became  neces- 
sary to  begin  a  second  school  in  the  lower  district  of  the 
nation..  In  1806,  there  were  in  thetvv'o  schools  seventy-five 
scholars,  whose  progress  in  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic, 
exceeded  the  most  sanguine  expectations  that  were  formed 
of  them.  Panoplist,  vol.  i.  p.  138.  The  indians  in  gen- 
eral, indeed,  made  no  inconsiderable  improvement  in  many 
of  the  common  and  most  useful  arts  of  life.  They  assumed 
to  a  great  extent,  not  only  the  habits,  but  even  the  form  of 
government  of  a  civilized  nation.  At  a  kind  of  national 
meeting,  they  formed  a  constitution,  chose  a  legislative  body» 
and  passed  a  number  of  laws,  among  which  was  an  act 
imposing  taxes  for  public  purposes.  Religious  Monitor, 
vol.  vii.  p.  329.  In  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Blackburn, 
dated  Januarys,  1810,  we  have  the  following  interesting 
account  of  the  progress  of  the  Cherokee  Indians  towards  a 
state  of  civilization. 

"  In  the  nation  there  are  12,395  Indians.  The  number 
of  females  exceeds  the  males  by  200.  The  Whites  in  the 
nation  are  341.  Of  these  are  113  who  have  Indian  wives. 
Of  Negro  slaves  there  are  583.  The  number  of  their  cattle 
is  19,500;  of  their  horses  6,100;  of  their  hogs  19,C00;  of 
■  their  shg|k  1,057. 

They^rave  now  in  actual  operati£)n  13  grist-mills;  3  saw- 
mills; 3  salt-petre  works,  and  1  powder-mill.  They  have 
^0  waggons;  between  480  and  500  ploughs;  1600  spinning- 
wheels;  467  looms,  and  -19  silversmiths. 

Circulating  specie  is  supposed  to  be  as  plenty  among 
tliem  as  is  common  among  the  White  people.  Most  of 
these  advantages  they  have  acquired  since  the  year  1796y 
and  particularly  since  1803. 

vol..  II-  3  S 


505  Appendix* 

If  we  deduct  from  the  year  the  number  of  Sabbaths,  and 
suppose  that  each  spinning-wheel  turns  off  six  cuts  a  day^ 
the  produce  of  1600  will  be  250,400  dozen  of  yarn  in  one 
year;  and  this,  when  manufactured  into  cloth,  will  make 
292,133  yards. 

If  we  should  suppose  each  loom  to  put  off  four  yards  a 
day,  the  produce  of  467  will  in  a  year  amount  to  584, o84 
yards. 

Allow  two  hands  to  a  wheel,  3,200  women  will  be  em- 
ployed in  carding  and  spinning,  467  engaged  in  weaving, 
and  as  many  to  fill  the  quills. 

If  each  plough  be  employed  on  only  10  acres,  then  500 
ploughs  would  cultivate  5000  acres,  and  would  employ  1000 
hands,  as  one  must  use  the  hoe  after  the  plough.  There  is 
also  nearly  as  much  land  in  the  nation  wrought  without  a 
plough  as  with  it;  each  acre  will  produce  50  bushels,  which 
will  be  equal  to  250,000,  or  20  bushels  to  each  person.  The 
actual  amount  will  double  that  sum. 

The  number  of  Bibles  and  Testaments  circulated  in  the 
nation,  including  the  children  of  the  schools,  is  upwards  of 
jdOO,  besides  a  variety  of  other  books. 

On  their  roads  they  have  many  public  houses,  and  on 
ijieir  rivers  convenient  ferries.  There  are  many  of  them 
learning  different  trades,  according  to  their  particular  incli- 
nations. But  as  yet  there  is  no  church  erected  among^ 
ihem,  and  few  of  them  appear  to  feel  the  impression  of  reli- 
gion on  their  hearts." — Panoplist,  vol.  ii.  p.  474. 

We  are  sorry,  however,  to  learn,  that  Mr.  Blackburn's 
mission  among  the  Cherokees  is  now  at  an  end.  He  had  so 
injured  his  health,  and  indeed  broken  his  constitution,  by 
his  unwearied  exertions,  that  he  was  compelled  to  resign  his 
appointment  as  a  missionary.  It  is  pleasing,  however,  to 
learn,  that  a  number  of  the  Cherokee  Indians  have  been  so 
well  instructed  l)y  hira,  that  they  are  now  able  to  tejj^  schools 
themselves,  and  it  was  expected  that  they  woul^CTigage  in 
this  important  work. — -Evan.  Mag.  vol.  xx.  p.  437. 

TIIE  WESTERN  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY. 

In  April  1805,  the  Rev.  James  Hughes  was  sent  by  the 
Western  Missionary  Society  on  a  mission  to  the  Wyandot 
Indians  about  Sandusky  and  the  neighbouring  country,  to 
the  west  of  lake  Erie.     On  arriving  among  them,  he  found 


Missions  of  Inferior  Note.  507- 

them  much  divided  on  the  subject  of  religion;  some  were 
for  giving  up  reUgion  altogether;  some  were  for  worshipping 
according  to  the  modes  of  their  forefathers;  but  the  greater 
part  were  willing  to  hear  the  gospel.  During  his  short  mis- 
sion of  two  months,  Mr.  Hughes  visited  the  Indians  belong- 
ing to  various  towns  in  that  part  of  the  country,  and  in  gen- 
eral he  met  with  a  very  favourable  reception  among  them. 
They  heard  his  discourses  with  great  attention,  and  some  of 
them  expressed  the  higliest  satisfaction  with  what  he  taught 
them,  particularly  one  of  the  chiefs, — Religious  Monitor^ 
vol.  iv.  p.  38,  75. 

After  fulfilling  the  period  of  his  mission,  Mr.  Hughes, 
was  succeeded  bv  the  Rev.  Mr.  Badi  cr,  and  he  was  after- 
wards  followed  by  another  minister.  Each  of  them  spent 
two  months  or  more  among  the  Indians,  and  both  of  them 
met  with  a  very  favourable  reception  from  them.  The  poot 
savages  expressed  a  strong  desire  to  have  the  gospel  preach- 
ed to  them,  a  school  for  the  education  of  their  children  esta- 
blished, and  the  arts  of  civilization  introduced  among  thern^ 

Encouraged  by  these  circumstances,  the  Western  Misr 
siDnary  Society  sent  the  Rev.  Mr.  Badger  to  settle  as  a  mis- 
sionary among  them,  and  likewise  three  other  persons  as  la- 
bourers, one  of  whom  was  to  be  eventually  employed  as  a 
schoolmaster.  With  the  view  of  introducing  among  them 
the  arts  of  life,  they  also  purchased  for  their  use  some  live 
stock,  household  furniture,  implements  of  husbandry,  a  boat, 
and  other  useful  articles. — Religious  Monitor,  vol.  iv.  p. 
JO,  /5. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Badger  was  still  labouring  as  a  missionary 
among  the  Wyandot  Indians  at  Upper  Sandusky,  in  1809^ 
At  that  time  there  were  in  the  school  15  scholars,  who  were 
making  considerable  progress  in  learning  to  speak  English, 
for  which  they  enjoyed  great  advantages,  as  some  of  the 
children  of  the  interpreter,  and  some  others  in  the  school 
could  speak  both  the  English  and  W^yandot  languages  very 
'well:  The  mission,  hou^ever,  had  suffered  a  severe  trial, 
from  the  unfriendly  offices  of  the  rum  traders,  and  from  the 
influence  of  the  celebrated  Seneca  prophet,  Cornplanter's 
brother.  Panoplist,  vol.  ii.  p.  184.  We  are  happy  to  un- 
dcrstand,  by  still  later  accounts,  that  the  mission  among  the 
Indians  about  Sandusky  has  assumed  a  very  favourable  as- 
pect, so  far  as  the  interests  of  religion  are  concerned.  Seve- 
ral of  the  Indians  appeared  to  be  \md<;r  serious  imprcssioni^ 


508  Appendicf:^ 

of  religion,   and  of  the  chiefs  seemed  parlicularly  pious- 
Evan.  Mag.  vol.  XX.  p.  437. 

To  this  account*  of  the  operations  of  the  Anglo-Americans 
in  propagating  the  gospel  among  the  Heathen,  we  shall  add 
a  list  of  the  Missionary  Societies  which  have  been  establish- 
ed in  the  United  States:  though  it  is  proper  to  remark,  that 
the  operations  of  most  of  them  have  been  chiefly  among  the 
White  people  in  the  new  settlements. 

The  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  among  the  In- 
dians and  others  in  North  America,  instituted  at  Boston  in 
1787. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  have,  since  1789,  made  annual  collections  in 
their  churches  for  sending  the  gospel  to  the  dark  parts  of  the 
country.  The  assembly  managed  this  business  until  1802, 
when  they  chose  a  standino;  committee  of  missions. 

In  1792,  the  Episcopal  Church,  or  General  Convention, 
resolved  to  collect  a  fund  for  missionary  purjooses,  and  have 
made  some  efforts  to  send  the  gospel  to  the  frontier  settle- 
ments. In  a  subsequent  general  convention,  the  business 
was  left  to  the  convention  of  each  state,  in  consequence  of 
which  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the  state  of  New-York  have 
established  a  Missionary  Society. 

The  New^-York  Missionary  Society,  instituted  1796. 

The  Northern  Missionary  Society,  in  the  state  of  Nev/- 
York,  instituted  1797. 

The  Connecticut  Missionary  Society,  instituted  1798. 

The  Massachusetts  Missionary  Society,  instituted  1799. 

The  Hampshire  Missionary  Society,  in  Massachusetts,  in- 
stituted 1800.      , 

The  New- Jersey  Missionary  Society,  instituted  1801. 

The  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  Massachusetts,  institu- 
ted 1802. 

The  Western  Missionary  Society,  consisting  of  the  synod 
of  Pittsburg,  which  is  a  branch  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Presbvterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  instituted 
1802. 

The  Piscataway  Missionary  Society,  New  Hampshire, 
instituted  1804. 

The  St.  Louis  Missionary  Society  in  Upper  Louisiana. 

The  Society  for  Foreign  Missions,  instituted  at  Philadel- 
phia.   Livingston's  Sermon  before  the  New- York  Mission- 


Afisswns  of  Inferwr  Note.  509 

ary  Society,  p.  47;   Period.  Accounts  relative  to  the  United 
Brethren,  voK  v.  p.  47;  Evan.  Mag.  vol.  xx.  p^  285. 


THE  DANES, 
LAPLAND. 

IN  1716,  two  missionaries,  Kiel  Stub  and  Jens  Bloch, 
were  sent  to  that  part  of  Lapland  called  Finmark,  under  the 
;!u spices  of  his  majesty  Frederick  the  IVth,  kin^:^  of  Den- 
mark, whose  reign  was  distincjuished  by  giving  birth  to  the 
missions  both  to  India  and  Greenland.  This  undertaking 
continued  to  be  supported  by  his  successors,  and  other  mis- 
*  sionaries  were  sent  from  tinic  to  time  to  instruct  the  poor 
ignorant  Laplanders  in  the  principles  of  religion. 

In  the  winter  season,  the  missionaries  travel  among  the 
mountains  in  sledges,  drawn  by  reindeer,  from  the  habitation 
of  one  Laplander  to  that  of  another,  sometimes  spending  a 
whole  week  with  the  same  family.  During  his  stay  with  them, 
he  daily  catechises  them  concerning  the  principles  of  religion; 
and  on  festival  days,  the  whole  of  tlie  inhabitants  of  that  dis- 
trict assemble  together,  and  then,  besides  catechising  theni^ 
he  delivers  a  sermon  to  them.  On  these  occasions,  he  not 
unfrequently  finds  it  necessary  to  perform  divine  worship 
under  the  canopy  of  heaven,  upon  the  deep  snows,  and  amidst 
a  cold  almost  intolerable.  In  the  summer  season,  the  mis- 
fiionaries  go  in  boats  from  one  part  of  the  sea  coast  to  ano- 
ther, instructing  the  inhabitants  in  a  similar  manner.  To 
assist  them  in  these  labours,  there  are  schoolmasters  whose 
duty  it  is  to  teach  the  young  people  the  art  of  reading,  and 
the  first  principles  of  religion. 

We  fear,  however,  that  Christianity,  as  yet,  has  made  but 
little  progress  in  Finmark.  This  conclusion  we  are  led  to 
draw  from  many  of  those  very  circumstances  which  Leemiuf?, 
who  was  a  missionary  for  a  number  of  years  among  the  Lap- 
landers, has  mentioned,  to  show  the  flourishing  state  of  reli- 
gion in  that  country.  In  the  district  where  he  laboured,  he 
informs  us  there  were  not  a  few  who  could  repeat  the  whole 
of  the  catechism,  a  small  part  of  the  history  of  Christ's  pas- 
sion, with  some  of  the  Psalms  of  I^avid,  both  in  the  Norwe- 
gian and  Lapponese  languages^    There  was  one  person  who 


510  Appendix^ 

could  repeat  thirty-six  psalms  by  rote;  and  he  mentions,  as 
a  singular  circumstance,  a  man  more  than  seventy  years  of 
ag-e,  who  had  committed  to  memory  the  three  first  parts  of 
the  catechism,  though  he  had  never  learned  to  read.  It  appears, 
however,  that  the  missionaries  did  not  all  learn  the  Lappo- 
nese  language;  a  circumstance  which  must  have  materially 
obstructed  the  success  of  their  labours,  as  many  of  the  Lap- 
landers, particularly  the  women,  did  not  understand  a  word 
of  the  Norwegian  tongue. 

According  too  Leemius,  the  Laplanders  have  not  only 
made  great  progress  in  Christian  knowledge,  but  they  mani- 
fest tlie  highest  respect  for  the  ordinances  of  religion;  for  al- 
though public  worship  on  the  Sabbath  seldom  occupies  less 
tlian  three  hours,  yet  they  will  sit  bareheaded  in  the  but 
amidst  the  severest  cold,  manifesting  the  greatest  attention 
and  devotion. 

The  Laplanders  hold  the  missionaries  in  high  estimation, 
atid  treat  them  with  the  greatest  respect.  They  give  them 
the  appellation  of  father,  and  always  afford  them  the  best  ac- 
conmiodation  in  their  power.  They  provide  them  with  the 
^^;reatest  dainties  they  have,  as  frozen  reindeer  milk,  the  flesh, 
the  tongue,  and  the  marrow  of  that  animal. 

Most  of  the  Laplanders,  even  though  they  should  be  on  a 
journey,  are  careful  not  to  neglect  the  usual  prayers,  which 
they  offer  up  with  great  devotion  both  morning  and  evening. 
Some  of  them  also,  at  their  private  devotions,  instruct  their 
children,  and  the  rest  of  the  family,  in  the  catechism.  But 
they  are  not  content  with  simply  learning  the  word  of  God; 
they  are  careful  to  manifest  its  power  and  influence,  by  a  life 
vy-orthy  of  the  gospel.  Hence  it  is,  that  you  hear  no  oaths 
or  imprecations  among  them,  though  these  are  so  common 
in  most  other  countries.  The  Sabbath  day  they  rarely  pro- 
fane. They  are  of  a  meek  and  very  peaceiful  disposition,  so 
that  they  very  seldom  fall  into  quarrels,  or  proceed  to  blows. 
In  their  manners  they  are  exceedingly  chaste,  and  theft,  is  a 
crime  little  known  among  them. 

The  Laplanders,  however,  like  all  other  human  beings^ 
have  their  vices,  but  these  he  says  are  few  and  rare.  Among 
these,  we  may  particularly  mention  drunkenness,  to  which 
some  of  them  are  addicted,  and  fraudulence  in  their  dealings, 
when  they  can  find  a  convenient  opportunity.  Leemii  Com- 
mentatio  de  Lappionibus  Finmarchise,  p.  507,  61. 


jMissions  of  Inferior  Note.  511 

THE  UNITED  BRETHREN. 
LAPLAND. 

IN  1734,  three  of  the  Brethren,  Andrew  Grasman,  Daniel 
Schneider,  and  John  Nitschman,  were  sent  on  a  mission  to 
Lapland,  with  this  instruction,  that  they  should  not  settle  in 
any  place  where  missionaries  laboured  already,  that  so  they 
might  not  interfere  with  the  exertions  of  others.  Having 
arrived  at  Stockholm,  they  there  learned  the  Swedish  lan- 
guage, and  are  said  to  have  been  useful  to  many  people  in 
that  city.  Afterwards  they  proceeded  to  Tornea,  the  most 
northern  town  in  Sweden,  and  having  here  acquired  the  Lap- 
ponese  language,  they  travelled  through  the  whole  of  Swedish 
Lapland.  But  as  in  that  part  of  the  country  they  found  some 
provisions  made  for  the  instruction  of  the  people,  they  resol- 
ved to  go  to  Russian  Lapland. 

In  1736,  they  returned  to  Stockholm;  and  in  the  follow- 
ing year  they  travelled  together  to  Moscow  and  Archangel. 
In  Moscow,  they  became  acquainted  with  some  sensible 
pious  people,  who  forwarded  them  on  their  journey  to  Arch- 
angel. Here  they  fell  in  with  some  Samoides,  who  agreed 
to  conduct  them  into  their  country.  But  on  applying  for  a 
passport,  they  were  suspected  to  be  Swedish  spies,  and  taken 
up;  and  after  having  been  kept  in  separate  places  of  confine- 
ment for  five  weeks,  they  were  sent  oft'  to  St.  Petersburg.  At 
first  the  guard  treated  them  with  great  harshness;  but  at 
length,  on  observing  their  Christian  meekness  and  patience, 
they  behaved  to  them  with  more  mildness.  Once  when  they 
were  crossing  a  lake  during  a  thaw,  the  ice  broke  under  the 
sledge,  not  far  from  the  shore.  Two  of  the  soldiers  and  tv.'o 
of  the  Brethren  fell  into  the  water;  but  the  third  Brothei- 
helped  them  all  out.  In  consequence  of  this,  the  guard  after- 
wards acknowledged  and  applauded  the  integrity  of  their 
prisoners,  who  saved  their  lives,  instead  of  leaving  them  to 
be  drowned,  and  recovering  their  own  liberty  by  flight.  On 
their  arrival  at  Petersburg,  they  suffered  a  second  confine- 
ment of  five  weeks,  and  were  subjected  to  frequent  exami- 
nations; but  as  their  innocence  was  completely  cleared,  they 
were  dismissed,  and  furnished  with  a  passport  to  Lubec. 
Crantz's  History  of  the  Bretliren,  p.  188. 

In  1741,  Elias  Ostergreen  ancl Behr,  two  others  of 

the  Brethren,  set  out  again  for  Lapland.     Having  spent  the 


5  i  2  Appendix. 

summer  at  Tornea,  they  proceeded,  after  Christmas,  in  com- 
pany with  a  party  oF  traders,  to  the  first  place,  where  a  fair 
was  held,  about  170  miles  from  that  town.  Here  they  found 
a  small  church  built  of  wood,  in  which  a  minister  preached, 
and  administered  the  sacraments  during  the  fair!  Except  at 
this  time,  it  seems,  the  people  never  came  to  church  the 
whole  year  round.  The  Brethren  enquired  whether  any'  un- 
haptizcd  or  Heathen  people  were  there,  that  they  might 
speak  to  them;  but  they  were  assured  that  they  were  all  good 
Christians.  Of  this,  however,  their  conduct  was  no  great 
proof;  for  before  the  fair  was  ended,  there  was  not  an  indi- 
vidual but  what  was  guilty  of  dri,  ikenness.  This  the  traders 
encourage,  in  order  that,  when  the  people  are  intoxicated, 
they  m.ay  make  the  better  bargains  with  them. 

Apprehending  that  they  could  be  of  no  use  in  this  quarter, 
the  Brethren  resolved  to  cross  the  mountains,  and  go  to  Fin- 
mark:  and,  with  this  view,  they  engaged  a  Lapland  guide. 
This  man  had  a  herd  of  500  reindeer,  but  he  drove  them 
only  as  far  as  the  confines  of  the  country,  and  having  left 
them  there,  he  conducted  the  missionaries  to  a  bay  on  the 
Icy  Sea,  Here  they  waited  in  vain  for  tvv'elve  weeks;  but 
they  at  length  procured  a  boat,  with  which  they  intended  to 
proceed  to  Norwegian  Lapland.  On  leaving  the  bay,  they 
had  the  wide  ocean  to  the  right,  and  exceeding  high  rocks 
-and  mountains,  covered  with  perpetual  snows,  to  the  left. 
Whenever  the  wind  \\'as  high,  they  were  obliged  to  run  to- 
wards some  rocky  island,  or  to  the  neighbouring  coast,  for 
safety,  and  wait  till  it  abated.  They  had  sufficient  covering 
to  screen  themselves  from  the  cold,  but  v/hen  it  rained,  they 
were  completely  wet.  As  the  sun,  however,  never  set,  they 
soon  got  dry  again  in  clear  weather,  and  suffered  no  material 
injury.  At  sea,  they  were  not  unfrequently  in  danger  of  be- 
ing overset  by  whales.  One  morning,  when  they  had  a  bay 
to  cross,  they  discovered  no  less  than  ten  of  these  monsters, 
and  were  obliged  to  return,  after  repeated  attempts  to  pass  it. 
At  length,  after  encountering  a  variety  of  dangers,  they  ar- 
rived at  an  island  belonging  to  Norwegian  Lapland,  in  n° 
North  latitude.  From  hence  they  proceeded  to  a  place 
where  they  found  a  church  and  a  minister.  The  Norwegian 
Laplanders,  are,  in  this  respect,  better  provided  for  than  the 
Swedish,  for  they  have  public  worship  every  Lord's  day.  In 
this  quarter,  the  Brethren  remained  two  years;  but  as  they 
liad  no  prospect  of  being  useful  to  the  people,  they  left  it,  and 


Miisiom  of  Inferior  Note.  513 

thus  the  mission  to  Lupland  was  finally  given  up.  Periodical 
Accounts  relative  to  the  Missions  of  the  United  Brethren, 
vol.  ii.  p.  203, 

GUINEA. 

IN  1736,  the  United  Brethren  sent  Christian  Prottcn,  a 
mulatto  from  Guinea,  who,  after  his  baptism,  had  studied 
divinity  at  Copenhagen,  and  Henry  HukufF,  to  begin  a  mis- 
sion in  Guinea.  Having  sailed  from  Holland  in  March  1737, 
they  arrived  in  that  country,  after  a  voyage  of  about  two 
months.  Henry  Hukuff,  however,  died  soon  after  their  arri- 
val; but  Christian  Protten  remaii¥;d  some  years  in  the  coun- 
try. He  at  length  returned  in  1741,  but  afterwards  he  made 
two  other  attempts  to  introduce  the  gospel  into  that  quarter 
of  Africa,  but  without  success. 

After  the  Bretnren  had  waited  a  number  of  years  for  a  fa- 
vourable opi)ortunity  to  renew  this  mission,  an  application 
was  made  to  them  in  1767,  by  the  Guinea  company  of  Copen- 
hagen, for  some  missionaries  to  settle  in  their  factories  oa 
the  coast  of  Africa.  With  this  view,  the  company  agreed 
to  assign  them  a  tract  of  land  on  the  Rio  Volta,  or  in  any 
other  situation,  which  should  be  deemed  most  convenient  for 
the  settlement  of  a  mission,  together  with  all  such  privileges 
as  were  necessary  for  promoting  the  conversion  of  the  Ne- 
groes. This  proposal  having  received  the  sanction  of  his 
Danish  majesty,  Jacob  Meder,  and  four  others  of  the  Bre- 
thren, embarked  for  Guinea  in  1768,  and  they  soon  alter  ar- 
rived in  safety  in  that  country.  But  before  they  were  able  to 
begin  the  intended  settlement,  Meder  and  two  of  his  assist- 
ants died,  and  the  two  others  laboured,  at  the  same  time, 
under  dangerous  disorders.  As  soon  as  this  painful  news 
was  received  in  Europe,  several  of  the  Brethren  cheerfully 
offered  to  go  and  supply  their  places.  Four  of  them,  who 
were  selected  for  this  purpose,  accordingly  set  out  soon  after 
for  the  coiiot  of  Guinea,  in  1770  they  arrived  in  that  country. 
But  ail  of  them,  together  with  the  two  who  were  left  of  the 
first  company,  died  that  same  year.  Crantz's  History  of  the 
Brethren,  p.  _23,  615. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

THE  associates  of  the  late  Dr.  Bray,  a  gentleman  in  Eng- 
land, who  had,  bv  his  List  will,  made  some  provision  for  tfe 
Yo-i,.  iT.  '  S  T 


514  Appendix. 

conversion  of  the  Negroes  in  South  Carolina,  having  solici- 
ted count  Zinzendorf  to  send  some  missionaries  to  that  col- 
ony, the  Brethren  Peter  Boehler  and  George  Schulcus  were 
sent  thither  tn  the  year  1738.  In  consequence,  however,  of 
the  sinister  views  of  those  who  ought  to  have  assisted  them, 
they  were  hindered  from  prosecuting  the  great  object  of  their 
mission.  Both  of  them,  indeed,  soon  fell  sick.  Schulcus 
died  in  1739;  and  Boehler,  who  was  at  the  same  time  min- 
ister of  the  colony  of  the  Brethren  in  Georgia,  retired  with 
them  to  Pennsylvania,  in  consequence  of  their  being  required 
to  carry  arms  in  the  w^ar  with  Spain, — Crantz,  p.  104,  226, 
229. 

ALGIERS. 

IN  1739,  Abraham  E.  Richler,  who  had  been  a  merchant 
at  Straisund,  and  had  joined  the  Brethren,  sailed  for  Algiers, 
with  the  view  of  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  Christian  slaves 
in  that  country.  On  his  arrival,  notwithstanding  the  repre- 
sentations of  the  European  consuls,  he  moved  into  the  town, 
where  the  plague  was  then  raging,  visited  the  slaves  in  the 
barracks,  preached  the  gospel  to  them,  ministered  to  their 
bodily  wants,  and  it  is  hoped,  was  useful  in  preparing  some 
of  them  for  their  departure  into-iiie  other  world.  He  at 
length,  however,  fell  a  sacrifice  to  his  benevolence  and  zeaL 
He  had  already  had  the  plague,  but  he  was  attacked  by  it  a 
second  time,  and  died  in  the  month  of  July  1740. 

In  1745,  Charles  Nottbek,  another  of  the  Brethren,  went 
to  Algiers,  with  the  same  benovolent  design.  He  remained 
in  that  country  for  upwards  of  three  years,  during  which 
time  he,  by  the  permission  of  the  Dey,  ministered  to  the 
slaves,  sometimes  at  the  risk  of  his  own  life,  both  by  making 
known  the  gospel  to  them,  and  by  other  acts  of  mercy.  Nor 
were  his  labours  altogether  in  vain.  Some  of  the  slaves  hav- 
ing afterwards  obtained  their  liberty,  came  to  the  congrega- 
tion of  the  Brethren,  and  at  length  finished  their  course  with 
joy.- — Crantz,  p.  242, 

CEYLON. 

IN  1739,  the  Brethren,  David  Nitschman,  jun.  and  Fre- 
derick Eller,  a  physician,  sailed  for  the  island  of  Ceylon. 
After  a   tedious  and  disagreeable  voyage,  in  th^  course  of 


Missions  of  Inferior  Note.  515 

which  eighty  of  the  ship's  company,  and  among  others,  the 
surgeon  of  the  vessel,  died,  they  arrived  at  Cokimbo,  the 
capital  of  that  island,  and  met  with  a  very  favourable  recep- 
tion from  the  governor.  When  they  entered,  however,  orl 
their  labours  among  the  natives,  they  found,  to  their  aston- 
ishment, that  the  poor  people  had  been  cautioned  against 
them  as  Atheists.  Indeed,  before  the  end  of  the  year,  when 
some  serious  persons  in  Columbo  began  to  liold  meetings 
together^  the  new  governor  was  prevailed  upon  to  order  the 
Brethren  to  quit  the  country.  Short,  however,  as  were  their 
labours  in  that  island,  it  was  hoped  that  they  were  not  al- 
together in  vain.  A  surgeon,  named  Christian  Dober,  appear- 
ed to  be  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  by  their 
means;  and  afterwards  he  came  to  the  Brethren's  congrega- 
tion, and  brought  a  Malabarian  with  him,  who  was  baptized 
m  1746. — Crantz,  p.  225,  314. 


THE  LONDON  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY. 

BESIDES  the  missions  of  which  we  have  given  an  ac- 
count in  the  body  of  the  work,  this  society  has  sent  mission- 
aries to  the  neighbourhood  of  Sierra  Leone,  to  Chinsurrah 
in  Bengal,  to  Newfoundland,  to  various  parts  of  Canada,  to 
New^  Brunswick,  to  Ceylon,  to  Bombay,  to  Madras,  to  Bue- 
nos Ayres  in  South  America,  to  the  Burman  Empire,  to 
Belhary,  to  Malta,  to  Tobago,  and  to  Trinidad.  But  as 
some  of  these  missions  were  to  people  who  professed  them- 
seb.es  Christians,  they  do  not  come  within  the  design  of  this 
work;  and  as  others  of  them  were  relinquished  almost  as  soou 
as  they  were  begun,  owing  to  the  death  of  the  missionaries, 
or  other  untoward  events,  they  do  not  require  particular  no- 
tice. We  shall,  therefore,  confine  our  attention  to  the  mis^ 
sions  to  Ceylon  and  Belhary. 

CEYLON. 

IN  February  1804,  the  Missionary  Society  sent  Messrs. 
Vos,  Erhardt,  and  Palm  to  Ce}  Ion,  encouraged  by  the  ac- 
counts they  had  received  of  the  vast  number  of  the  natives 
"vviio  professed  themselves  Christians,  but  who  were  now  in  a 


516  Appendix, 

great  measure  destitute  of  the  means  of  religious  instruc- 
tion. On  their  arrival  in  that  Island,  Mr.  Vos  was  appoint- 
ed by  his  excellency  governor  North,  to  settle  as  minister  of 
the  Dutch  church,  at  Point  de  Galle;  Mr.  Erhardt  at  Ma- 
tura;  and  Mr.  Palm  at  Jaftanapatnam,  together  with  Mr, 
Read  whom  they  had  taken  with  them  from  the  Cape  of 
Good  hope;  and  they,  at  the  same  time  obtained  an  allow- 
ance from  government,  r^^  account  of  their  labours. — Trans- 
actions of  the  Missionary  Society,  vol.  ii.  p.  266.  Mr.  Vos 
was  aftewards  removed  to  Columbo  the  capital  of  the  island; 
but  after  he  had  been  sometime  in  that  city  he  was  ordered 
by  govemment  to  quit  the  island,  through  the  instigation  of 
the  Dutch  consistory,  whom,  it  is  said,  he  had  offended  by 
his  faithfulness  and  zeal.  Mr.  Erhardt,  who  had  come  to 
Columbo  with  the  view  of  learning  the  Cingalese  language 
more  speedily,  was  ordered  to  leave  that  town,  and  return 
to  Matura;  and  when  there;  he  received  a  second  order  not 
to  interfere  with  the  Dutch,  but  to  confine  his  instructions 
to  the  natives.  In  a  few  months,  however,  this  restriction 
was  withdrawn,  and  he  was  again  permitted,  by  the  authority 
of  the  governor,  to  perform  all  the  duties  of  the  ministerial 
office. — Re])ort  of  the  Missionary  Society,  1807,  p.  29. 
Ibid.  1808,  p.  28.     Ibid.  1810,  p.  20. 

His  labours,  however,  were  attended  with  little  or  no  suc- 
cess. His  congregation  was  extremely  small,  consisting  only 
of  about  fifty  or  sixty  people,  of  whom  not  more  than  four- 
teen or  fifteen  attended  on  the  Lord's  day,  and  even  most  of 
these  were  children.  Evan.  Mag.  vol.  xv.  p.  570.  Mr. 
Palm's  labours  were  for  some  time  equally  unsuccessful.  In 
February  1808,  he  says  that  to  that  period  he  had  not  been 
able  to  get  the  children  to  attend  for  instruction,  as  their 
parents  were  averse  to  the  Christian  religion,  and  preferred 
sending  them  to  the  schools  of  Pagan  teachers.  Scarcely 
any,  it  appears,  attended  his  preaching.  Miss.  Trans,  vol. 
iii.  p.  228.  Some  of  whom  he  once  entertained  pleasing 
expectations,  disappointed  these  hopes.  Even  several,  who 
had  promised,  with  tears  in  their  eyes,  no  longer  to  reject 
the  gospel,  but  to  forsake  their  idols  of  wood  and  stone,  left 
him,  and  when  he  afterwards  met  with  them,  and  remon- 
strated with  them  in  a  friendly  manner,  they  replied,  "  We 
are  Tamulers,  and  do  right  in  living  according  to  the  cus- 
toms of  our  country.  Our  Brahmins,  who  are  holy  men, 
and  in  great  favour  with  God,  assure  us,  that  our  state  after 


M'lssions  of  Inferioi'  A'ote.  517 

this  life  will  be  far  more  happy  than  tliat  of  many  Christians, 
who  are  the  disturbers  of  our  happiness  here.  Our  fore- 
fathers lived  in  peace  and  plenty  in  this  country,  but  since 
the  Christians  conquered  us,  we  have  lost  our  happiness." 
Mr.  Palm,  however,  succeeded  at  length  in  erecting  a  school 
at  Tillipally,  which,  in  1810  contained  twenty  boys,  some  ol 
whom  had  made  considerable  progress  in  learning,  and  in 
the  knowledge  of  religion.  He  likewise  frequently  preach- 
ed and  catechised  the  children  at  Jaffna-town;  and  it  appears 
that  the  gospel  was  there  heard  with  general  attention. — 
Miss.  Trans  vol.  iii-  p.  343.  Mr.  Read,  besides  preaching 
to  the  soldiers  in  English,  and  exhorting  in  Dutch,  had  a 
school  for  teaching  Cingalese  and  Portuguese  boys  the  Eng- 
lish language,  on  which  he  ingrafled  religious  instructions. — 
Report  of  the  Missionary  Society,  1810,  p.  20. 

\Ve  have  the  satisfaction  to  add,  that,  by  the  laudable  ex- 
ertions of  sir  i\lexander  Johnston,  the  chief  judge  of  the  isl- 
and, the  Rev.  Mr.  Twisleton,  and  other  friends  of  religion, 
the  establishment  of  schools  which  existed  under  the  Dutch 
government,  has  lately  been  revived  to  a  certain  extent.  Mr- 
Erhardt  and  Mr.  Palm  have,  by  the  kindness  of  government, 
been  appointed  to  two  of  the  churches;  and  each  of  the  mis- 
sionaries, including  Mr.  Read,  appears  to  have  the  superin- 
tendence of  the  schools  in  their  respective  districts — Report 
of  the  Missionary  Society,  1813,  p.  15. 

BELHARY. 

IN  1809,  Mr.  Hands  was  sent  to  India,  with  the  view  of 
beginning  a  mission  to  Seringapatnam;  but  as  on  his  arrival 
he  could  not  obtain  access  to  that  city,  he  fixed  his  residence 
at  Belhary,  a  place  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  to 
the  north  of  Madras.  Here  he  immediately  began  to  learn 
the  language  of  the  natives  called  the  Kurnatta,  or  Kanaada, 
which  is  spoken  from  the  borders  of  the  Mahratta  country, 
nearly  to  the  bottom  of  the  Mysore.  Of  this  language  he 
l^s  formed  a  grammar  and  vocabulary;  and  he  has  already 
translated  into  it  the  gospels  according  to  Matthew  and  Luke, 
and  a  Catechism.  Besides  conversing  with  the  natives  on 
the  subject  of  religion,  he  preached  on  the  Lord's  day  morn- 
ing to  the  English  soldiers  and  others,  at  the  Kutcheree; 
in  thtf  afternoon  at  the  hospital;  and  in  the  evening  at  his; 


^1€  Appendix. 

own  house.  Considerable  impressions  appeared  to  be  made 
on  the  minds  of  many  of  the  military,  and  several  of  the 
young  Portuguese  seemed  to  be  seriously  disposed.  He 
also  began  a  charity  school  for  the  poor  children,  in  the  esta- 
blishment of  which  he  met  with  great  encouragement  from 
many  of  the  European  ladies  and  gentlemen  in  the  town. 
By  the  last  accounts,  it  contained  nearly  fifty  children,  many 
of  whom  had  made  considerable  progress  in  useful  know- 
ledge, and  the  greater  part  of  them  regularly  attended  on 
divnie  worship.  This  school  was  conducted  by  a  pious 
soldier,  under  the  superintendence  of  our  missionary.  By 
the  assistance  of  some  kind  friends,  Mr.  Hands  has  also  been 
enabled  to  erect  a  native  school-house  in  the  mission  garden, 
where  near  forty  children  of  different  casts  attend'  This 
school  is  chiefly  under  the  care  of  a  respectable  Brahmin, 
the  brotlier  of  his  moonshee;  and  as  the  natives  are  extreme- 
Iv  desirous  that  their  children  should  learn  English,  Mr. 
llands  intends  as  a  stimulus  to  the  scholars  in  general,  and 
as  a  reward,  to  the  most  diligent,  to  select  a  few  for  that 
privilege. — Evan.  Mag.  vol.  xvii.  p.  127;  vol.  xviii.  p.  448; 
vol.  xix.  p.  150,  316;  vol.  xxi.  p.  115.  Report  of  the  Mis- 
sionary Society,  1812,  p.  17.     Ibid.  1813,  p.  10,  26. 

In  March  1812,  Mr.  Thomson,  who  had  been  sent  to  the 
-assistance  of  Mr.  Hands,  arrived  at  Madras;  but  on  reporting 
himself  at  the  police-office,  and  requesting  permission  to  go 
forward  to  Belhary,  he  was  informed  that  as  he  had  come 
irom  Egland  without  a  license  from  the  directors  of  the 
East  India  Company,  he  could  not  be  allowed  to  remain  in 
the  country,  but  must  return  to  Europe,  or  the  Isle  of 
France,  by  the  first  opportunity.  Mr.  Thomson  addressed 
a  respecful  letter  to  the  governor  on  the  subject;  but  it 
was  without  effect.  He  did  not,  however,  return  to  Europe, 
for  only  a  few  weeks  after  he  received  this  order,  he  was 
taken  extremely  ill,  and  in  a  few  days,  died  triumphing  in  the 
hope  of  a  glorious  immortality. — Report  of  the  Missionary 
Society,  1813,  p.  12. 

This,  though  the  first,  was  not  the  only  instance  In  which 
the  India  government  ordered  back  those  who  were  sent  to 
that  country,  with  the  view  of  propagating  Christianity 
among  the  Hindoos.  Soon  after  Mr.  Thomson's  arrival, 
five  missionaries  from  North  America  landed  at  Calcutta, 
.but  they  were  immediately  ordered  to  leave  the  country,  an 
injunction  which  they  found  it  necessary  to  obey.     Report 


Missions  of  Inferior  Note.  519 

of  the  Missionary  Society,  1813,  p.  26.  To  this  we  have  to 
add,  with  regret,  that  Messrs.  Johns  and  Lawson,  two  Bap- 
tist missionaries,  who  lately  arrived  in  Bengal,  and  even  Mr. 
Robison,  who  had  been  nearly  seven  years  in  the  country, 
have  been  ordered  to  return  to  England.  Mr.  Johns,  in- 
deed, has  already  arrived  in  this  country. 

This  however,  we  trust,  is  the  last  instance  in  which  the 
India  government  will  exercise  so  pernicious  a  prerogative. 
In  the  summer  of  1813,  when  a  bill  for  the  renewal  of  the 
iiast  India  Company's  charter  was  before  parliament,  it  was 
proposed,  that  persons  desirous  of  promoting  Christianity  in 
India,  should  have  liberty  to  proceed  to  that  country,  and 
should  enjoy  the  protection  of  government  while  they  con- 
ducted themselves  in  a  prudent  and  peaceable  manner. 
This  important  measure  was  supported  by  upwards  of  nine 
hundred  petitions  from  different  parts  of  the  United  King- 
dom; and  though  it  met  with  considerable  opposition  in 
the  house  of  commons,  it  was  carried  by  a  majority,  and 
in  the  house  of  lords,  it  passed  without  opposition.  The 
following  is  a  copy  of  the  clause  in  the  bill  which  relates  to 
this  subject,  and  which  may  now  be  considered  as  the  Mag- 
na Charta  of  missionaries  in  India: 

"  XXXI.  And  whereas  it  is  the  duty  of  this  country  to 
promote  the  interest  and  happiness  of  the  native  inhabitants 
of  the  British  dominions  in  India,  and  such  measures  ought 
to  be  adopted  as  may  tend  to  the  introduction  among  them 
of  useful  knowledge,  and  of  religious  and  moral  improve- 
ment; and,  in  furtherance  of  the  above  objects,  sufficient 
facilities  ought  to  be  afforded  by  law  to  persons  desirous  of 
going  to,  and  remaining  in,  India,  for  the  purpose  of  accom- 
plishing those  benevolent  designs,  so  as  the  authority  of  the 
local  governments  respecting  the  intercourse  of  the  Euro- 
peans with  the  interior  of  the  country  may  be  preserved^ 
and  the  principles  of  the  British  government  on  which  the 
natives  of  India  have  hitherto  relied,  for  the  free  exercise 
of  their  religion,  be  inviolably  maintained:  And  whereas  it 
is  expedient  to  make  provision  for  granting  permission  to 
persons  desirous  of  going  to,  or  remaining  in,  India,  for  the 
above  purposes;  and  also  to  persons  desirous  of  going  to, 
or  remaining  there,  for  other  lawful  purposes;  be  it  there^ 
fore  enacted,  that  when,  and  as  often  as  any  application  shall 
be  mi\dc  to  the  said  court  of  directors,  for  or  on  behalf  of 


520  Jppendix. 

any  person  or  persons  desirous  of  proceeding  to  the  East  In- 
dies for  permission  so  to  do,  the  said  court  sliall,  unless  they 
shall  think  fit  to  comply  therewith,  transmit  every  such  ap- 
plication, within  one  month  from  the  receipt  thereof,  to  the 
said  board  of  commissioners,  and  if  there  be  not  any  suiiici- 
cient  objection  thereto,  it  shall,  and  may  be  lawful  for  the 
said  commissioners,  to  direct  that  such  person  or  persons 
shall,  at  his  or  their  own  special  charge,  be  permitted  to  pro- 
ceed to  any  of  the  said  principle  settlements,  of  the  said  compa- 
ny; and  that  such  person  or  persons  shall  be  furnished  by  thel 
said  court  of  directors^  with  a  certilicate  or  certiucates,  ac- 
cording to  such  form  as  the  said  commissioners  shall  pre- 
scribe, signifying  that  such  person  or  persons  hath,  or  have 
so  proceeded,  with  the  cognizance,  and  under  the  sanction 
of  the  said  court  of  directors:  and  that  all  such  certificates 
shall  entitle  the  persons  obtaining  the  same,  so  long  as  they 
shall  properly  conduct  themselves,  to  the  countenance  and 
protection  of  the  several  governments  of  the  said  company 
in  the  East  Indies,  and  parts  aforesaid,  in  their  respective 
pursuits,  subject  to  all  such  provisions  and  restrictions  as  are 
now  in  force,  or  may  hereafter  be  judged  necessary  with  re- 
gard to  persons  residing  in  India." 

Subsequent  clauses  provide,  that  the  directors  may  make 
such  representations  to  the  board  of  controul,  respecting 
persons  who  apply  for  admission,  as  they  think  fit;  that  all 
persons  when  arrived  in  India,  shall  be  subject  to  the  regu- 
lations of  the  company's  government;  that  governments  in 
India  may  declare  licences  void,  if  it  shall  appear  to  them 
that  the  persons  to  whom  they  were  granted  have  forfeited 
theirclaim  of  protection;  that  governments  in  India  shall  not 
sanction  the  residence  of  any  person  there,  who  went  with- 
out licence,  after  April  10,  1814,  but  may  send  them  back 
in  any  ship  belonging  to  the  company;  yet  that  the  gover- 
nor general  may,  for  extraordinary  reasons,  authorize  such 
persons  to  stay,  until  the  pleasure  of  the  court  of  directors  is' 
known. — Evan.  Mag.  vol.  xxi.  p.  321,  458. 

To  this  statement  we  think  it  is  only  justice  to  add,  that 
the  court  of  directors  of  the  East  India  Company  in  this 
country,  appears  by  no  means  so  unfavourable  to  the  propa- 
gation of  Christianity  in  India,  as  the  supreme  government 
in  Bengal,  the  members  of  which,  we  are  sorry  to  say,  have 
manifested  a  timidity  and  even  an  animosity,  in  relation  to 


Missions  of  Inferior  Note.  521 

the  extension  of  the  religion  they  themselves  profess,  which 
would  have  appeared  truly  astonishing  had  it  been  manifes- 
ted by  a  Mahommcdan  government,  under  similar  circum- 
stances. Dr.  Buchanan  relates  many  interesting  but  melan- 
choly facts  on  this  subject,  in  his  late  Apology  for  Promoting 
Christianity  in  India,  which  we  consider  as  the  most  valua- 
ble, and  the  most  authentic  of  all  his  writings,  concerning 
the  state  of  reUgion  in  the  East. 


VOL.    II.  S  U 


No.  II. 
ACCOUNT  OF  THE  EXERTIONS 

OF 

SOME  PERSONS  DISTINGUISHED  BY  THEIR  ZEAI, 

FOR    THE 

PROPAGATION  OF    CHRISTIANITY 
AMOJYG  THE  ilEATHEJ^, 

THE  HOx^OURABLE  MR.  BOYLE. 

THE  honourable  Mr.  Boyle  was  not  only  a  man  of  exten- 
sive learning,  and  one  of  the  first  philosophers  of  the  age  in 
which  he  lived;  he  was  no  less  distinguished  by  his  Zealand 
activity  in  promoting  the  interests  of  Christianity,  both  at 
home  and  abroad.  Having  been  greatly  instrumental  in  pro- 
curing the  charter  of  the  East  India  Company,  and  been  for 
many  years  one  of  the  directors,  he  made  a  proposal  to  them, 
that  they  should  make  some  attempt  for  the  propagation  of 
Christianity  in  the  East.  But  Mr.  Boyle  was  not  satisfied 
with  recommending  this  important  object  to  the  attention  of 
others;  he  was  one  of  the  first  to  stand  forward,  and  to  con- 
tribute to  the  expence  of  the  undertaking.  As  soon  as  he 
found  that  the  East  India  Company  was  favourable  to  the 
measure  he  had  recommended,  he  sent  /.lOO  to  assist  in 
the  commencement  of  the  scheme,  intending  at  the  same 
time  to  promote  it  still  further,  when  it  should  actually  be 
set  on  foot.  During  the  space  of  about  thirty  years,  he  was 
the  governor  of  the  Corporation  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel  in  New-England,  and  the  parts  adjacent  in  America; 
and  in  the  course  of  his  life  he  contributed  /.300  for  that 
important  object,  and  at  his  death  he  left  a  further  sum  for 
the  same  purpose.  He  not  only  expended  /.700  on  an 
edition  of  the  Irish  Bible,  which  he  ordered  to  be  distribu- 
ted in  Ireland,  (besides  contributing  largely  to  the  printing 


Missions  of  Inferior  Note,  523 

of  the  Welsh  Bible,  and  of  the  Irish  Bible  for  Scotland;) 
but  he  designed  to  have  defrayed  the  expence  of  publishing 
the  New  Testainent  in  the  Turkish  language.  The  Turkey- 
company,  however,  thought  it  became  them  to  be  at  the 
charge  of  that  undertaking,  and  therefore  allowed  him  to  be 
only  a  contributer  to  it.  He  was  at  the  expence,  however, 
of  publisliing  the  four  gospels  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles, 
in  the  Malay  language,  which  were  printed  in  the  Roman 
character,  at  Ox  lord,  in  1677,  under  the  direction  of  the 
learned  Dr.  Hyde,  professor  of  Oriental  languages  in  that 
university,  and  were  afterwards  sent  for  distribution  in  the 
East.  He  likewise  gave  a  noble  reward  to  Dr.  Edward 
Pococke,  for  translating  into  Arabic  the  celebrated  work 
ofGrotius  De  Veritate  Christiana  Relig^jiis;  and  was  at 
the  expence  of  the  whole  impression,«which  he  was  careful 
to  have  circulated  in  those  countries  where  that  language 
was  understood.  To  crown  the  whole,  he  left  at  his  death, 
the  sum  of  /.  5,400  for  the  propagation  of  Christianity  among 
the  infidel  and  unenlightened  nations.  Birch's  Life  of  the 
honourable  Mr.  Boyle,  perfixed  to  his  works,  vol.  i.  p.  108, 
139.  Bishop  Burnet's  Sermons,  pi  167.  Hodgson's  Life 
of  Bishop  Porteous,  p.  111. 

DR.  BERKLEY  LATE  BISHOP  OF  CLOYNE. 

After  his  return  from  abroad  in  1721,  this  distinguished 
philosopher  was  employed  in  forming  "  A  scheme  for  Con- 
verting the  Savage  Americans  to  Christianity,  by  a  college 
to  be  erected  in  the  Summer  Islands,  otherwise  called  the 
Isles  of  Bermuda."  In  1725,  he  published  a  proposal  for 
this  purpose,  and  offered  to  resign  his  own  preferment  as 
dean  of  Derry,  which  was  worth  /  1,100  a  year,  and  to  de- 
dicate the  remainder  of  his  life  to  the  instructing  of  the 
youth  in  America,  with  the  moderate  salary  of  /.108  per  an- 
num. Such  was  the  force  of  his  eloquence  and  disinterested 
example,  that  three  junior  fellows  of  Trinity  college,  Dublin, 
the  Rev.  William  Thomson,  Jonathan  Rogers,  and  James 
King,  consented  to  accompany  him,  and  to  exchange  all 
their  prospects  at  home  for  a  settlement  in  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  of  /.40  a  year;  and  that  too  at  a  time  when  a  fellow- 
ship in  Dublin  college  was  supposed  to  place  a  man  in  a  ve- 
ry favourable  point  of  view  for  attracting  the  notice  of  his 
superiors,  both  in  cliurch  and  state. 


524  Appendix. 

In  a  letter  of  recommendation  which  the  celebrated  dean 
Swift  gave  Dr.  Berkeley  to  Lord  Carteret,  the  lord  lieu- 
tenant of  Ireland,  we  have  the  follow  ing  account  of  him  and 
his  plan  :  "  He  is  an  absolute  philosopher  with  regard  to 
money,  titles,  and  power  ;  and  for  three  years  past  has  been 
struck  with  a  notion  of  founding  an  university  at  Bermuda, 
by  a  charter  from  the  crown.  He  hath  seduced  several  of 
the  hopefullest  young  clergymen  and  others  here,  many  of 
them  well  provided  for,  and  all  of  them  in  the  fairest  way  for 
preferment :  but  in  England,  his  conquests  are  greater,  and 
I  doubt  will  spread  very  far  this  winter.  He  shewed  me  a 
little  tract  which  he  designs  to  publish,  and  there  you  will 
see  his  whole  scheme  of  a  life  academico-philosophical;  of  a 
college  founded  |pr  Indian  scholars  and  missionaries,  where 
he  most  exorbitantly  |j)roposeth  a  ivhole  hundred  pounds 
for  himself  forty  pounds  for  a  fellow^  and  ten  for  a  student. 
His  heart  will  break  if  his  deanry  is  not  taken  from 
him,  and  left  to  your  excellency's  disposal.  I  discourage 
him  by  the  coldness  of  courts  and  ministers,  who  will  inter- 
pret all  this  as  impossible  and  a  vision;  but  nothing  will  do. 
And  therefore  I  do  humbly  intreat  your  excellency,  either 
to  use  such  persuasions  as  will  keep  one  of  the  first  men 
in  this  kingdom  for  learning  and  virtue  quiet  at  home,  or 
assist  him  by  your  credit  to  compass  his  romantic  design, 
which,  however,  is  very  noble  and  generous,  and  directly 
proper  for  a  great  person  of  your  excellent  education  to 
encourage." 

Dr.  Berkeley,  having  acquired  an  accurate  knowledge  of 
the  value  of  certain  lands  in  the  Island  of  St.  Christopher's, 
which  had  been  ceded  by  France  to  Great  Britain  by  the 
treaty  of  Utrecht,  and  which  were  then  to  be  sold  for  the 
public  use,  undertook  to  raise  from  them  a  much  greater 
sum  than  was  expected,  and  proposed  that  a  part  of  this 
money  should  be  applied  to  the  erecting  of  his  college.  He 
found  means,  bv  the  assistance  of  a  Venetian  of  distinction, 
the  Abbe  Gualteri,  (or  Altieri,)  with  whom  he  had  formed 
an  acquaintance  in  Italy,  to  carry  this  proposal  to  George  I. 
to  whom  that  foreigner  had  easy  access;  and  his  majesty 
laid  his  commands  on  sir  Robert  Walpole  to  introduce  and 
conduct  the  business  throuu:h  the  house  of  commons.  His 
miijesty  was  further  pleased  to  grant  a  charter  for  erecting  a 
college,  by  the  name  of  St  Paul's  college  in  Bermuda,  to 
consist  of  a  president  and  nine  fellows,  who  were  obliged 


Missions  of  Inferior  Note.  5-j.S 

to  maintain  and  educate  Indian  scholars,  at  the  rate  of  /.lO 
a  year  for  each.  In  May  172  ,  the  house  of  commons 
voted  "  that  a  humble  address  be  presented  to  his  majesty, 
that  out  of  the  lands  in  St.  Christopher's  his  majesty  would 
be  graciously  pleased  to  make  such  grant  for  the  use  of  the 
president  and  fellows  of  the  college  of  St.  Paul  in  Bermuda, 
as  his  majesty  shall  think  proper."  The  sum  of  /.i.0,000 
was  accordingly  promised  by  the  minister,  and  several  pri- 
vate subscriptions  were  immediately  raised  for  promoting 
"  so  pious  an  undertaking,"  as  it  is  styled  in  the  king's  an- 
swer to  this  address.* 

But  notwithstanding  this  grant,  so  many  unexpected  difn- 
culties  and  obstructions  were  thrown  in  the  way  by  men  in 
power,  that  though  the  whole  soul  of  Dr.  Berkeley  was  bent 
on  the  object,  yet  two  full  years  elapsed  before  it  was  possi- 
ble for  him  to  get  the  necessary  arrangements  made.  At 
length,  however,  in  September  1728,  he  set  sail  for  Rhode 
Island  accompanied  by  his  lady, -whom  he  had  married  only 
a  few  weeks  before  ;  Mr.  Smilert,  an  ingenious  painter ; 
Messrs.  James  and  Dallon,  two  gentlemen  of  fortune  :  a 
pretty  large  sum  of  money  of  his  own  property,  and  a  col- 
lection of  books  for  a  library.  He  directed  his  course  to 
Rhode  Island  which  lay  nearest  to  Bermuda,  with  the  view 
of  purchasing  lands  on  the  adjacent  continent,  for  the  sup- 
port of  his  college,  having  a  positive  promise  from  the  min- 
istry, that  the  parliamentary  grant  should  be  paid  him  as  soon 
as  the  lands  should  be  agreed  on. 

But  notwithstanding  this  promise,  the  money  was  never 
paid,  being  always  delayed,  sometimes  under  one  pretence, 
and  sometimes  under  another.  At  length,  bishop  Gibson, 
on  applying  to  sir  Robert  Walpole,  who  was  then  at  the  head 
of  the  treasury,  received  from  him  the  following  scandalous 
answer:  "If  you  put  this  question  to  me  as  a  minister,  1 
must  and  can  assure  you,  that  the  money  shall  most  undoubt- 
edly be  paid  as  soon  as  suits  with  public  convenience:  but 
if  you   ask  me  as   a  friend,  whether  dean  Berkeley  should 

*  It  is  stated,  though  on  \vhat  authority  we  know  not,  that  wlien  tlie 
queen,  with  wliom  J)r.  Berkeley  was  a  favourite,  endeavouied  to  dis- 
suade iiim  from  his  design,  and  offered  him  her  interest  for  an  Englisi» 
bishoprick,  he  nobely  replied,  that"  he  would  prefer  the  headship  of  St. 
Paul-s  college  at  Bermuda,  to  the  primacy  of  all  England;  though  we 
have  already  mentioned,  his  salary  from  that  oflice  was  only  to  he 
MOO  a  year.     Kncyclop?ediaBritannica,  Art.  Bekkki.f.t. 


5^6  Appe7idix, 

continue  in  America  expecting  the  payment  of  /. 20,000,  1 
advise  him  by  all  means  to  return  to  Europe,  and  to  give  up 
his  expectations."  The  dean  having  received  information 
of  this  conference  from  his  friend  the  bishop,  and  being  ful- 
ly convinced  that  the  base  policy  of  one  man  had  rendered 
abortive  a  scheme  on  which  he  had  expended  much  of  his 
private  fortune,  and  more  than  seven  years  of  his  life,  return- 
ed to  Europe  in  1731.  Before  he  left  Rhode  Island,  he 
distributed  what  books  he  had  brought  with  him  among 
the  clergy  of  that  province;*  and  immediately  after  his  ar- 
rival in  London,  he  returned  all  the  private  subscriptions  that 
had  been  advanced  for  the  support  of  his  undertaking. 
Such  was  the  unfavourable  termination  of  Dr.  Berkeley's 
scheme  for  the  erection  of  a  college  in  the  Bermuda  isl- 
ands, and  the  conversion  of  the  American  Indians;  a  scheme 
which  reflects  more  honour  upon  his  name  than  all  his  learn- 
ed labours  ever  can  confer. — Berkeley's  works,  vol.  i.  p. 
11,  42. 

REV.  DR.  WHEELOCK. 

In  1754,  the  Rev.  Eleazar  Wheelock,  of  Lebanon  in  Con- 
necticut, established  a  charity  school  for  the  education  of  In- 
dian children,  together  with  some  English  youths,  with  the 
view  of  preparing  them  for  labouring  as  missionaries,  in- 
terpreters, or  schoolmasters,  among  the  difFt  rent  tribes  of  In- 
dians. These  children  were  not  only  educated,  but  clothed 
and  supported  by  him;  and  such  was  the  success  of  his  mea- 
sures, that  in  1765,  little  more  than  ten  years  after  the  com- 
mencement of  the  institution,  there  were  no  fewer  than  three 
missionaries,  eight  schoolmasters,  and  two  interpreters  occa- 
sionally hired  to  assist  them,  employed  in  labouring  among 
the  Indian  tribes,  together  with  twenty. two  youths  in  the 
school  at  Lebanon,  all  of  whom  were  dependent  on  him  for 
support. — A  Brief  Narrative  of  the  Indian  Charity  School, 
1767,  p.  3,  22. 

In  1766,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Whitaker,  and  the  Rev.  Samson 
Occum,  an  Indian  preacher,  and  the  first  pupil  who  was 
educated  at  the  school,  were  sent  over  to  Great  Britian,  in 
order  to  obtain  subscriptions  for  the  support  of  this  important 

*  Dr.  Holmes  says,  that  Dr.  Berkeley  gave  Yale  College  ninety -six 
acres  of  land  in  Rhode  Island,  and  a  thousand  volumes  of  books. 
Holmes'  American  Annals,  vol.  ii.  p.  114. 


Missions  of  Inferior  Note,  527 

institution.  Upon  their  arrival  in  England,  the  plan  met 
with  the  most  liberal  patronage  of  Christians  of  every  deno- 
mination, and  of  all  ranks  of  society.  His  majesty  came 
forward  with  a  subscription  of  /.200;  and  in  November 
1V68,  the  whole  contributions  amounted  to  no  less  than 
/.9911 :  5  :  Oi  of  which  sum,  the  earl  of  Dartmouth,  John 
Thornton,  Esq.  of  Clapham,  and  several  other  gentlemen 
of  the  lirst  respectability,  were  constituted  trustees.  Besides 
remitting  to  Dr.  Wheelock  upwards  oi  two  thousand  pounds, 
they  laid  out  /.  237  :  1  :  6  in  the  purchase  of  /.7()00,  three 
per  cent,  reduced  bank  annuities,  the  principal  ..nd  interest 
of  which,  together  with  all  sums  as  should  be  paid  to  them 
for  the  Indian  charity  school,  they  obliged  themselves,  by  a 
deed  of  trust,  to  employ,  to  the  best  of  their  judg  lent,  for 
the  advancement  and  support  of  that  institution. — A  Con- 
tinuation of  the  Narrative  of  the  Indian  Charity  School,  1769, 
p.  83,  83,   12o. 

In  Scotland,  Messrs.  Whitaker  and  Occum  met  with  no 
less  success,  considering  the  extent  and  population  of  the 
country.  Having  presented  a  memorial  to  the  Society  for 
Propagating  Christian  Knowledge,  the  directors  of  that  use- 
ful institution  transmitted  copies  of  it  to  all  the  ministers  of 
the  church  of  Scotland,  with  an  earnest  recommendation  to 
them  to  obtain  contributions  for  the  Indian  school  in  their 
respective  parishes;  and,  in  order  to  secure  the  proper  ap- 
plication of  the  money,  they  resolved  that  it  should  be  placed 
under  their  own  management.  In  consequence  of  this  re- 
commendation, the  sum  of/.2529  :  17:  11  was  collected  in 
this  country,  making,  with  the  money  raised  in  Engla^id, 
upwards  of  /.12,(i00. — Account  of  the  Society  in  Scotland 
for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge,  1774,  p    16. 

By  means  of  these  large  contributions,  the  plan  of  the  In- 
dian school  was  extended,  and  as  a  proposal  was  made  to  re- 
move it  from  Lebanon  in  Connecticut,  various  offers  were 
made  for  its  encouragement  in  several  of  the  neighbouring 
colonies.  Dr.  Wheelock,  with  the  advice  of  the  board  of 
trustees  in  England,  accepted  the  mvitaiion  of  the  governor 
of  New-Hampshire,  a.nd  other  gentlemen  of  that  province; 
and  the  township  of  Hanover,  a  place  about  200  miles  from 
Lebanon,  was  finally  hxed  on,  as  the  most  convenient  situa- 
tion (or  a  school.  The  governor  annexed  to  it  a  charter  of 
incorporation  for  an  university,  under  the  name  of  Dart- 
mouth college,  in  honour  of  its  great  friend  and  benefactor 


528 


Appendix, 


in  England,  the  earl  of  Dartmouth.  The  college  was  en- 
dowed with  a  landed  estate,  amounting  to  44,000  acres; 
and  a  board  of  trustees  was  constituted,  with  powers  of  per- 
petual succession. 

In  1770,  Dr.  Wheelock  removed  the  school  from  Lebanon 
to  Hanover,  at  which  time  the  number  of  scholars  was 
twenty-four,  eighteen  of  whom  were  English,  and  the  other 
six  Indians 
scholars  from  that  period  to  the  year  1785. 


riie  following  Table  will  shew  the  number  of 


Indian 

English. 

In  the  year  ending  October 

1771 

11 

15 

Do. 

1772 

18 

14 

Do. 

1773 

17 

13 

Do. 

1774. 

16 

14 

•     Do. 

1775 

16 

14 

From  1775  to  March 

1777 

21) 

1777  to  March 

1778 

5\ 

8* 

1778  to  April 

1779 

10) 

1779  to  October 

1781 

9 

1781  to  March 

1785 

5 

American  Correspondence,  among  the  Records  of  the  So- 
ciety in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge,  MS. 
vol.  i.p.  302, 

In  June  1789,  the  following  statement  of  the  expences  at- 
tending the  Indian  charity  school,  from  the  year  1767,  was 
laid  before  a  committee  of  a  Board  of  Commissioners  from 
the  society  in  Scotland  for  propagating  Christian  Know- 
ledge, held  at  Boston,  by  Dr.  John  Wheelock,  the  president 
of  Dartmouth  college : 


Under  the  English,  we  have  here  included  one  French  scholar. 


Missions  of  Inferior  Note.  529 

To  Missionarieg,  -  -  -        ;^1446  18    O 

Schoolmasters  in  the  Wilderness  and  school,    625   16  II 
156  Indian;^,  male  and  female,  educated  in^ 
the   school,    exclusive  of  those  in  the  S    3193  16     4 
Wilderness,  -  .  .  J 

147  English  youths  educated  in  the  school,  2259  10  6 
Labour,  clearing  lands,  buildings,  &c.  -  2389  14  1 
Clothing  to   October    1770,  expences  of  ^ 

horses  for  missionaries,  printing  narra-  >     1350  19  10 
tives,  &c.  -  -  .  -  ) 

Interest,  balance  of  his  accompt,  charges 
procuring  evidence,  journeyings, 


155     9     7 


11,400     5     3 
Bymoney  received  from  England,  Scotland,  7   -.^  ono  t?     9 


and  iVmerica, 


Balance,  -  ,         ;^  1,190  10     1 


The  whole  of  the  money  collected  in  England,  principal 
and  interest,^  was  gradually  remitted  for  the  use  of  the  insti- 
tution. American  Correspondence,  MS.  vol.  i,  p.  183,  294. 
Several  sums  were  also  paid  out  of  the  fund  in  Scotland, 
until  the  commencement  of  hostilities  between  America  and 
the  mother  country.  During  the  war.  Dr.  Eleazor  Whee- 
lock  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Dr.  John  Whee- 
lock,  in  the  presidency  of  the  college.  At  the  conclusion  of 
peace,  the  correspondence  between  the  society  in  Scotland 
and  the  managers  of  the  school  in  America  was  renewed, 
and  the  balance  due  to  it  was  at  length  settled,  though  not 
without  very  considerable  diiiiculty.  Doubts,  indeed,  be- 
gan to  be  entertained,  that  the  money  was  not  applied  to  the 
origin  il  purposes  of  the  institution;  and,  on  enquiry,  it  was 
found,  that  though  the  buildings  in  the  college  appropriated 
for  the  li^dian  school  were  still  kept  up,  and  the  American 
funds  d'-stined  for  its  support,  applied  to  no  other  purjx)se: 
yet,  since  1785,  no  youths  of  any  description,  whether  In- 
dian or  English,  had  been  educated  in  it.  The  reason  as- 
signed for  this  by  Dr  Wheelock  was,  the  want  of  the  usual 
remittances  from  this  country;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
society  thought  it  proper  to  refuse  his  demands  for  money; 
until  the  attempt  was  renewed.  They  even  remitted  thc„ 
VOL.  II.  3  X 


530.  Appendix. 

matter  to  the  consideration  of  thek  law  committee,  and  di- 
rected them  to  report  how  far  they  were  at  liberty  to  alienate 
the  money  collected  for  this  charity,  and  to  apply  it  for  the 
support  of  missionaries  among  the  American  Indians,  or 
other  infidel  nations.  The  law  committee,  however,  gave 
it  as  their  unanimous  opinion,  "  that  the  society  were  not  at 
liberty  to  bestow  this  money  on  any  other  object  than  that 
for  which  it  was  collected;  but  that  no  part  of  it  should  be 
transmitted  to  Dartmouth  college,  without  satisfactory  evi- 
dence being  first  obtained,  that  the  original  purpose  of  the 
institution  was  fulfilled."  By  this  means,  the  money  col- 
lected for  the  Indian  charity  school  lay,  for  some  years,  un- 
appropriated to  any  purpose  whatever,  excepting  that  50/, 
a  year  was  paid  out  of  it,  to  Mr.  Kirkland  the  missionary, 
who  was  educated  at  this  seminary.  In  consequence  of  this, 
it  increased  considerably,  and  in  May  1795,  it  amounted  to 
2,324/.  16^.  2f/,  including  the  stock  and  savings. — Account 
of  the  Funds,  Expenditure,  &c.  of  the  Society  in  Scotland 
for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge,  p.  17,  60,  American 
Correspondence,  MS.  vol.  i-  p.  369. 

Since  that  period,  the  school  has  again  been  opened,  for 
the  education  of  Indian  and  English  youths.  About  1798  or 
1799,  a  young  man  wai6  admitted  into  it,  and  when  his  edu- 
cation was  completed,  he  offered  to  go  among  the  Cherokee 
Indians,  but  there  were  no  funds  to  support  him.  In  1800, 
Dr.  Wheelock  received  two  Indian  boys  into  the  school,  but 
one  of  them  left  it  of  his  own  accord,  within  less  than  a  year, 
imd  returned  to  his  friends,  and  the  other,  not  long  after,  fell 
into  a  declining  state  of  health,  and  was  likewise  obliged  to 
go  home.  For  several  years  past,  there  have  generally  been 
three  or  four  youths  in  the  Indian  school,  most  of  whom 
were  very  promising,  and  made  rapid  progress  in  learning, 
and  besides  these,  there  are  a  number  of.  English  youths 
who,  we  suppose,  are  educated  on  funds  raised  in  America. 
American  Correspondence,  MS.  vol.  ii,  p.  3,  47,  55 ^  65,  79, 
88,  &:c. 

Since  the  accounts  published  by  Dr.  Wheelock,  senior, 
no  particular  success  is  known  to  have  attended  the  missions, 
and  exhibitions  of  the  Indian  charity  school,  except  that 
captain  Brandt,  a  Mohawk  chief,  and  others  who  were  edu- 
cated at  it,  appear  to  have  introduced  some  degree  of  know- 
ledge and  civilization  among  "the  Six  Nations,  a  fact  which 
is  acknowledged    by   the  Indians   themselves. — American 


Missions  of  Inferior  Note,  531 

Correspondence,  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  B6. "  Several  of  the  English 
youth  who  attended  the  school,  afterwards  rerinquished  the 
office  of  missionaries,  or  there  were  no  means  of  snpportin;^* 
them;  only  two  Indians  ever  completed  then-  education  at 
tlie  school,  from  the  period  of  its  removal  to  New-Hamp- 
shire, until  it  was  shut  up  in  1785,  one  of  whom  died  about 
179),  and  the  other  was  unlit  for  being  employed  as  a  mis- 
sionary. From  experience,  it  was  found,  that,  in  general, 
the  Indian  youth,  however  well  they  promised  while  at 
school,  turned  out  extremely  ill,  on  returning  to  their  own 
countrymen,  so  that  there  was  little  or  no  prospect  of  spiead- 
ing  the  gospel  among  the  savages,  by  means  ot  them.  Ame- 
rican Correspondence,  MS.  vol.  i.  p.  291.  The  following 
picture,  drawn  by  Doctors  Morse  and  Belknap,  is  perhaps, 
highly  coloured,  but  }'et  we  fear  there  is  too  much  truth  in 
the  general  lineaments:  *'  An  Indian  youth,"  say  they,  "  has 
been  taken  from  his  friends,  and  conducted  to  a  new  peo- 
ple, whose  modes  of  thinking  and  living,  whose  pleasures 
and  pursuits,  are  totally  dissimilar  to  those  of  his  own  nation. 
His  new  friends  profess  to  love  him,  and  to  have  a  desire 
for  his  improvement  in  human  and  divine  kno^v'Iedge,  and 
a  concern  for  his  everlasting  salvation;  but,  at  the  same 
time,  they  endeavour  to  make  him  sensible  of  his  inferiority 
to  themselves.  To  treat  him  as  an  equal,  would  mortify 
their  own  pride,  and  degrade  them  in  the  view  of  their 
neighbours.  He  is  put'  to  school;  but  his  fellow-students 
look  upon  him  as  a  being  of  an  inferior  species.  He  ac- 
quires some  knowledge,  and  is  taught  some  ornamental,  and, 
perliaps,  useful  accomplishments;  but  the  degrading  me- 
morials of  his  inferiority,  which  arc  continually  before  his 
eyes,  remind  him  of  the  manners  and  habits  of  his  own  coun- 
try, where  he  was  once  free,  and  equal  to  his  associates. 
He  sighs  to  return  to  his  friends;  but  among  them  he  meets 
with  the  most  bitter  mortification.  He  is  neither  a  White 
man,  nor  an  Indian.  As  he  had  no  character  with  us,  so  he 
has  none  with  them.  If  he  has  strength  of  mind,  sufficient 
to  renounce  all  his  acquirements,  and  to  resume  the  savage 
life  and  manners,  he  may  possibl}'  be  again  received  by  his 
countrymen;  but  the  greater  probability  is,  that  he  will  take 
refuge  from  their  contempt  in  the  inebriating  draught;  and 
when  this  becomes  habitunl,  he  will  be  safe  from  no  vice, 
and  secure  from  no  crime.  His  downward  progress  will  be 
rapid,  and  his  death  premature.     Such  has  been  the  fate  of 


532  Appendix. 

several  Indians  who  have  had  the  opportunity  of  enjoying 
an  EngUsh  or  a  French  education,  and  have  returned  to  their 
native  country.  Such  persons  must  either  entirely  renounce 
their  acquired  habits,  and  resume  their  savage  manners;  or 
if  they  remain  among  their  countrymen,  they  will  live  des- 
pised, and  die  unlamented.'* — Collections  of  the  Massachu- 
set  Historical  Society. 

We  have  been  thus  particular  in  our  account  of  Dr. 
Wheelock's  Indian  school;  of  the  extent  of  the  undertaking, 
the  expence  of  the  establishment;  and  the  almost  total 
failure  of  the  attempt,  because  we  consider  it  as  nearly  of  as 
much  importance  to  know  what  plans  have  failed,  as  what 
have  been  attended  with  success,  that  so  we  may  not  again 
run  into  the  same  errors,  and,  in  future,  may  devise  our  mea- 
sures with  more  wisdom  and  effect. 

DR.  PORTEUS,  LATE  BISHOP  OF  LONDON. 

We  have  already  stated,  that  the  honourable  Mr.  Boyle 
left  at  his  death  a  considerable  sum  for  the  Propagation  of 
Christianity  among  infidel  and  unenlightened  nations.  This 
act  of  benevolence  has  of  late  years  given  occasion  to  a  dis- 
play  of  zeal  on  the  part  of  Dr.  Porteus,  late  bishop  of  Lon- 
don, for  the  conversion  of  the  Heathen.  The  nature  and 
circumstances  of  the  case  we  cannot  better  explain,  than  in 
the  words  of  the  venerable  bishop:- 

"In  1691,"  says  he,  "  the  great  Mr.  Boyle  left  a  sum  of 
Tnoney,  amounting  to  /. 5,400,  for  the  advancement  of  the 
Christian  religion  amongst  infidels.  With  this  sum,  an  estate 
was  afterwards  purchased  at  Brafferton,  near  Boroughbridge, 
in  Yorkshire.  The  earl  of  Burlington,  and  the  Bishop  of 
London  for  the  time  being,  were  constituted  trustees  of  the 
charity;  and  in  1693,  they  directed  that  the  profits  of  the 
estate  should  be  paid  to  the  president  of  William  and  Mary 
college  in  Virginia,  to  be  applied  by  them  to  the  education 
and  instruction  of  a  certain  number  of  Indian  children. 
This  appointment  was  confirmed  by  a  decree  of  the  court 
of  chancery,  in  1698.  The  cliarity  continued  to  be  so  ap- 
plied till  the  breaking  out  of  the  American  war;  soon  after 
which,  the  then  bishop  of  London  forbade  the  agent  of  the 
college  to  remit  any  more  money  to  Virginia.  After  the 
peace,  the  college  claimed  the  rents  of  the  estate,  and  all 
the  arrears  that  had  accumulated,  which,  with  the  sale  of 


Missions  of  Inferior  Note,  533 

some  timber,  amounted  to  a  very  large  sum.  This  was  re- 
sisted by  bishop  Lowth;  and  on  my  succeeding  to  the  see 
of  London,  a  regular  suit  in  chancery  was  commenced  be- 
tween me  and  the  college  of  Virginia.  The  question  was, 
Whether  they,  being  now  separated  from  this  kingdom,  and 
become  a  foreign  independent  state,  were  entitled  to  the 
benefit  of  this  charity?  It  was  the  first  question  of  the  kind 
that  had  occurred  in  this  country  since  the  American  revo- 
lution, and  was  therefore  in  the  highest  degree  curious  and 
important.  The  chancellor,  lord  Thurlow,  decided  against 
the  college.  He  excluded  them  from  all  share  in  the  chari- 
ty, and  ci|pccted  that  the  trustees  should  offer  a  plan  for  the 
appropriation  of  the  charity  to  some  other  purpose.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  decree,  I  gave  into  the  master  in  chancery, 
Mr.  Orde,  my  plan  for  the  application  of  Mr.  Boyle's  chari- 
ty, and  proposed  for  its  object,  "  The  conversion  and  reli- 
gious instruction  of  the  Negroes  in  the  British  West  India 
Islands."  This  has  been  subsequently  approved  by  the  lord 
chancellor,  and  there  will  now  be  a  revenue  of  near  /.lOOO 
per  annum  applied  to  that  purpose." 

"  To  this,  his  own  account  of  the  origin  and  establishment 
9f  that  Society,  I  am  enabled  to  add,"  says  his  biographer 
Mr,  Hodgson,  "  from  my  own  personal  observation  and 
knowledge,  that  he  not  only,  in  his  capacity  as  president, 
took  a  leading  part  in  all  its  transactions,  but  that  he  was 
indefatigable  in  his  efforts  to  promote  the  objects  of  it.  With 
the  view  of  rendering  the  Scriptures  more  generally  useful 
to  the  Negroes,  he  undertook  to  make  a  selection  of  such 
parts  both  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  as  appeared  to 
him  best  adapted  to  their  understandings  and  condition.  He 
spared  no  pains  in  procuring  able  and  conscientious  minis- 
ters to  fill  the  office  of  missionaries.  He  corresponded  fre- 
quently with  them  on  the  state  of  their  mission.  He  endea- 
voured, by  all  the  means  in  his  power,  to  conciliate  the 
good  will  of  the  planters,  to  remove  the  apprehensions  they 
expressed,  and  to  convince  them  of  the  policy,  as  well  as 
the  humanity,  of  educating,  and  instructing  their  slaves.  In 
short,  he  did  all  that  the  most  active  and  unwearied  zeal 
could  do  to  advance,  in  every  possible  way,  the  great  pur- 
poses of  the  institution.  If  after  all,  its  success  fell  short  of 
his  hopes,  as  I  have  heard  him  often  lament  that  it  did,  the 
failure  is  not  to  be  ascribed  to  the  want  of  effort  in  him,  but 
to  the  difiiculties  which,  though  in  some  instances  overcome^ 


534  Appendix. 

he  found  in  others  insuperable.  The  chief  of  these  ahvays 
has  been,  and  still  continues  to  be,  an  invincible  reluctance 
on  the  part  of  the  proprietors  and  planters  of  estates  in  our 
West  India  colonies,  effectually  to  promote  any  plan,  how- 
ever quietly  and  prudently  conducted,  for  the  Christian  edu- 
cation of  their  Negfo  slaves.  To  this  general  assertion,  in- 
deed, I  know  there  are  some' honourable  exceptions;  but, 
on  the  whole,  there  does  not  appear  an  increasing  disposi- 
tion as  far  as  my  information  and  experience  enable  me  to 
judge,  to  discountenance  and  impede  all  attempts  to  instruct 
that  unfortunate  part  of  our  fellow  beings  in  the  principles 
and  practice  of  religion."— Hodgson's  life  of  bishqpPorteus, 
p.  111. 

The  above  society,  for  the  conversion  and  religioils  in- 
struction and  education- of  the  Negro  slaves  in  the  We^ 
India  Islands,  was  incorporated  by  royal  charter  in  1793; 
and  the  bishop  of  London  for  the  time  being  was  appointed 
president.  Soon  after  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade.  Dr. 
Porteus  addressed  a  letter  to  the  West  India  planters,  re- 
commending to  them  the  establishment  of  as  many  schools 
in  each  parish  of  the  West  India  Islands,  as  the  Negro  po- 
pulation might  require,  on  the  plan  of  Dr.  Bell;  and  by  his 
will  he  left  /.  1000  tnree  per  cent,  stock  for  the  general  pur- 
poses of  the  society.     Christian  Observer,  vol.  vii.  p.  200. 


No.  III. 

LIST 

OF 

TRANSLATIONS  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES 

INTO  THE  LANGUAGES  OF 

PAGAN  AND  MAHOMMEDAN  NATIONS. 


IN  the  following  list  of  translations  of  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
the  author  has  included  some  which  were  originally  designed 
for  the  use  of  Christians,  because  the  same  language  is  also 
spoken  by  Pagans  and  Mahommedans,  and  they  may  there- 
fore be  employed  in  pronioting  their  conversion  to  the  faith 
of  Christ,  Where  more  than  one  edition  has  been  printed, 
he  has  seldom  mentioned  any  except  the  first,  unless  when 
there  was  something  peculiar  in  the  subsequent  impressions* 
Those  which  have  never  been  printed,  he  has  marked  as  in 
manuscript,  when  he  was  certain  of  the  fact.  Though  the 
list  is  no  doubt  imperfect,  yet  he  believes  it  is  by  far  the 
most  complete  which  has  yet  been  published.  The  impor- 
tance of  such  an  account  is  obvious  from  this  circumstance, 
that  the  author  believes  he  could  mention  more  than  one 
instance  in  which  translations  of  the  Scriptures  have  been 
unndertaken,  within  these  few  years,  without  its  being  known 
to  the  translators  that  versions  already  existed  in  these  lan- 
guages. The  whole  is  alphabetically  arranged,  to  render 
it  more  convenient  for  reference. 

AFGHAN. 

The  Gospels  according  to  Matthew  and  Mark,  in  the 
Afghan  language,  MS» 

In  1810,  Dr.  John  Leyden,  professor  of  Hindostanee  in  the  college 
of  Fort  William,  who  had  a  number  of  learned  natives,  from  various 
parts  of  the  East,  employed  under  him  in  preparing  grammars  and 
vocabularies  of  the  languages  of  their  respective  countries,  offered  to 


536  Appendix, 

procure,  by  their  means,  versions  of  the  Four  Gospels  in  the  following 
languages,  the  Afghan,  Siamese,  Macassar,  Bugis,  Rakheng,  Maldivian, 
and  Jaghatai,  most  of  which  had  never  yet  been  cultivated  by  Europe- 
ans. (Report  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  1811,  Appen- 
dix, p.  76.)  Having  died,  however,  soon  after,  he  only  executed  the 
following,  or  rather  superintended  the  execution  of  them  by  natives 
of  the  several  countries,  the  Gospels  of  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and 
John,  part  second,  in  Maldivian;  Matthew  and  Mark,  in  Afghan;  Mark 
in  Baloch,  Bugis,  and  Macassar.  None  of  these,  however,  have  been 
printed,  as  it  was  not  reckoned  expedient  to  commit  them  to  the 
press  without  being  revised  by  an  European  scholar.  Report  Brit,  and 
For.  Bib.  Soc.  1812,  p.  13.     Append,  p.  75. 

The  New  Testament  in  the  Afghan  language,  translating 

by  the  Baptist  missionaries  at  Serampore. 
After  the  death  of  Dr.  Leyden,  the  Baptist  missionaries  at  Serampore, 
unwilling  that  the  work  should  be  relinquished,  procured  learned  men 
who  understood  the  Afghan  language,  and  hope,  through  their  means  to 
complete  a  version  in  that  dialect.  Baptist  Periodical  Accounts,  vol. 
V.  p,41,  61. 

AMERICAN  INDIAN.* 

The  New  Testament  in  the  Indian  Language,  by  John 

Eliot,  Cambridge,  New  England,  4to.  1661. 
The  Old   Testament   in  the  Inflian  Language,  by  John 

Eliot,  Cambridge,  New- England,  4to.  1664. 
A  second  edition  of  the  whole  Bible  in  the  Indian  Language,  was 
published  in  1685,  in  correcting  which,  Mr.  Eliot  was  assisted  by  Mr. 
John  Cotton,  of  New  Plymouth  Colony.    Holmes'  American  Annals, 
vol.  i.  p.  318,327. 

The  Book  of  Psalms,  and  the  Gospel  according  to  John, 
in  columns  of  English   and    Indian,   by    Experience 
Mayhew,  Boston,   1709. — May  he  w's  Indian  Converts, 
p.  307. 
The  New  Testament,  in  the  Mohegan  language,  toge- 
ther with  many  parts  of  the  Old  Testament,  by  John 
Sergeant,   sen.  late   Missionary  at   Stockbridge,    MS. 
Hopkin's  Memoirs  of  the  Housatunnuk  Indians. 
The  Mohegan  language,  we  are  informed  by  Dr.  Jonathan  Edwards, 
who, by  living  at  Stockbridge  while  his  venerable  father  was  missionary 
at  that  place,  acquired  it  in  his  early  years,  is  spoken  by  all  the  In- 
dians throughout  New-England.     Every  tribe,  indeed,  has  a  different 

•  Le  Long,  in  hi3  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  torn.  i.  p-  448,  mentions  a  translation  under 
the  following'  title:  "  Novum  Testamentiim  ling-ua  Indica,  12.  Londini,  Mathasi 
Symmons,  1646;"  but  we  suspect  that  no  such  translation  exists:  at  least  we  never 
heard  of  any  previous  to  Mr.  Eliot's,  which  was  not  printed  till  several  years  after- 
wards. He'  also  mentions  the  following  Polyglott  MS.:  "  Novum  Testamentum 
Indica,  Armenica  ct  Vandalica  seu  Slavica  lingua.  Bibl.  Monachensis  sive  Ba- 
varica,"  Ibid.  torn.  i.  p.  8;  but  whether  the  Indian  to  which  he  here  refers  is  one  of 
the  languages  of  North  America,  orof  the  East  Indies,  we  do  not  know. 


List  of  Translations*  537 

dialect,  but  the  language  is  radically  the  same.  Mr.  Eliot's  translation 
of  tlie  liible  was  into  a  dialect  ot"  thisJanguage.  The  Mohegan,  indeed, 
appears  to  be  spoken  much  more  extensively  than  any  other  language 
in  North  America.  The  languages  of  the  Delawares  in  j^ennsylvania, 
of  the  Penobscots  on  the  borders  of  Nova  Scotia,  of  the  Indians  of  St. 
Francis  in  Canada,  of  the  Shavvanose  on  the  Ohio,  and  of  the  Chippe- 
ways,  to  the  westward  of  Lake  Huron,  are  all  radically  tlie  same  with 
the  Mohegan.  This  is  likev*  ise  said  to  be  the  case  with  the  language 
of  the  Ottaways,  the  ISantikoks,  the  Munsjs,  the  Menomonees,  the 
Messisangas,  ,  tiie  Saukies,  the  Ottagaumies,  the  Killistinoes,  the  Nip- 
egoiis,  the  Algonkins,  the  \Vinnebagoes,  &,c.  Edwards'  observations  on 
the  Language  of  the  MuhI.ekaneew  Indians,  p.  5. 

The  Gospel  according  to  Matthew,  together  with  many 

chapters,  both  from  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  in 

the  Mohawk  language,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.    Freeman   of 

Sciienectady. 

This  translation  was  made  about  the  beginning  of  the  eighteentli 

century.     Some  passages   of  it  were  printed  at  New -York,   but    the 

greater  part  of  it,  we  suppose,  was  left  in  manuscript.     Humphrey's 

Historical  Account  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospelin 

Foreign  Parts,  p.  286,  302. 

The  Gospel  according  to  Mark,  in  Mohawk  and  English, 
by  colonel  Brandt,  an  Indian  chief,  1787.— Report  Brit, 
and  For.  Bib.  Soc.  1803,  p.  17,  56;  Holmes'  Sermon 
before  the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  among 
the  Indians  and  others  in  North  America,  p.  43. 
The  Gospel  according  to  John,  in  the  Mohawk  language, 
by  captain  Norton  an  Indian  chief,  1804 — Report  Brit, 
and  For.  Bib.  Soc,  1805,  p.  16;  Ibid.  1807,  p.  41. 
The  Moravian  missionaries  in  North  America  translated 
various  passages  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  both  into  the 
Mohegan  and  Delaware  languages;  but  whether  they 
are  still  in  existence  we  do  not  know;  for,  in  1781,  all 
the  books  and  writings  which  they  had  compiled  for 
the  instruction  of  the  Indian  youth,  are  said  to  have 
been  destroyed  by  the  savages.  Loskiel's  History  of 
the  Mission  among  the  North  American  Indians,  Part 
II.  p.  151,  182;  Part  III.  p.  80,  161. 

ARABIC* 

The  Bible  in  Arabic,  in  the  Paris  Polyglott,  1615. 
The  Bible  in  Arabic,  in  the  London  Polyglott,  1657.  Le 
Long,  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  tom.  i.  p.  122. 

•  For  a  list  of  MS.  copies  of  the  sacred  writings  in  Arabic,  See  Le  Long  Uiblio- 
tlicca  Sacra,  tom  i.  p.  111—122. 


veil.  n. 


r,Y 


538  Appendix. 

The  Bible  in  Arabic,  without  the  vowel  points,  published 
by  order  of  the   congregation  de  propaganda  jide,   for 
the  use  of  the  churches  in  the  East,  to  which  is  added, 
the  Vulgate  translation. — Rome,  1671,  3  vols,  folio. 
This  version  was  originally  made  by  Sergius  Risius,  archbisbop  of 
the  Maronites  at  Damascus,  during  the  popedom  of  Urban  VIII.     Be- 
fore it  was  published,  however,  it  was  revised  by  order  of  the  Propa- 
ganda, and  it  is   said  to  have  been  modeled  entirely  after  the  Vulgate. 
When  copies  of  the  first  volume  were  sent  to  the   East,  they  could 
scarcely  be  understood,  and  the  missionaries  were  accused  of  corrupt- 
ing the  word  of  God.     This  excited  so  much  disturbance,  that  the  work 
was  suppressed  by  authority  of  the  pope  for  many  years;  but  yet  the 
whole  was  afterwards  printed. — Ibid.  torn.  i.  p.vl24. 

The  Bible  in  Arabic,  by  the  patriarch  of  Antioch.  Bu- 
charest in  Wallachia,  folio,  1700. — Ibid.  torn.  i.  p.  125, 
The  Holy  Scriptures  in  Arabic,  edited  by  Raphael  Tuki, 
bishop  of  Erzerum,  under  the  patronage  of  the  congre- 
gation de  propaganda  fide,  yo\.  \.  1752 — 1753,  4to. 
Bibliographical  Dictionary,  vol.  i.  p.  277;  Marsh's 
History  of  the  Translations  of  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
p.  79. 
The  Bible  in  Arabic. 

This  work  was  undertaken  some  years  ago  by  the  late  professor  Car- 
lyle,  but  he  died  before  accomplishing  it.  It  has,  however,  been  late- 
ly completed. — Marsh's  History,  p.  S3. 

The  Pentateuch  in  Arabic,  printed  in  Hebrew  characters, 
from  the  version  of  Rabbi  Saadias,  folio,  Constantino- 
ple, 1546. 
This  was  printed  in  a  Polyglott   edition  of  the  Pentateuch,  which 
was  published  at  Constantinople  in  1546,  or,  as  is  sometimes  said,  1551; 
and,  besides  the  Arabic,  it  contained  the  five  books  of  Moses,  in  He- 
brew, CJhaldee,  and  Persic. — Le  Long.  torn.  i.  p.  41,  125. 

The  Pentateuch  in  Arabic,  edited  by  Thomas  Erpenius, 

4to.  Leyden,  16-c;2.     Ibid.  torn.  i.  p  125. 
The  Psalms  in  Arabic,  translated  from  the  Greek.     Ge- 
noa, 1516. 
This  appeared  in  a  Polyglott  edition  of  the  Psalms,  which  was  prin- 
ted at  Genoa  in  1516;  and  besides  the  Arabic,  contained  the  Hebrew, 
Greek,  and   Chaldee  text,  and  three  Latin  versions. — Ibid.  torn.  i.  p. 
4^  125. 

The  Psalms  of  David,  with  the  Songs  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament,  in  Syriac  and  Arabic.  Printed  in  the  small 
Syriac  character,  on  Mount  Libanus,  in  the  monastery 
of  St.  Anthony  and  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  by  Joseph 
F.  Amima,  1610.     Ibid.  torn.  i.  p.  103. 


List  of  Translations.  539 

The  Psalms  of  David,  Arabic  and  Latin,  from  the  version 
of  Gabriel  Sionita,  4to.     Rome,  1614.     Ibid.  torn,  i: 
p.  122.  125. 
The  Psalms  of  David  in  Coptic,  Arabic,  and  Latin,  edited 
by  Thomas  Petraeus,  4to. — Leyden,  1663.     Ibid.  torn, 
i.  p.  43. 
The  Psalms  of  David  in  Arabic,  printed  at  the  expence 
of  Athanasius,  the  Antiochan  patriarch  of  the  Greeks, 
4to.— Aleppo,  1706.     Ibid.  torn.  i.  p.  125. 
The  Psalms    of  David,  the  Decalogue,  and  the   Lord's 
Prayer,  in  Arabic,   with  parallel  passages  of  Scripture 
From  the  Old  and  New  Testament.     London,    1725. 
This  work  was  published   by  the   Society  for  Promoting  Cliristian 
Knowledge;  and  the  whole  impression,  consisting  of  upwards   of  six 
thousand  copies,  was  sent  abroad,  so  that  a  copy  of  it  is  now  rarely  to  be 
seen.     The  Arabic  text  difters  from  tliat  in  the  Polyglott.     Solomon 
Negri,  a  native  of  Damascus,   was  brought  from  Halle,  in   Saxony  to 
I^ndi>n,  to  supe  .intend  the  printing  of  it. 

The  Psalms  of  David  in  Arabic,  8vo.  Aleppo,  1755. 
The  Psalms  of  David  in  Arabic,  printed  at  the  monastery 

Oi  St.  John,  on  Mount  Kersvan,  8vo.  1735. 
The  Psalms  of  David  in  Arabic,  by  the  monks  of  St.  Ba- 
sil, in  the  monastery  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  on  Mount 
Chaswan,  8vo.  1764.      Bib-  Diet.  vol.  i   p.  277. 
The  Psalter,  Coptic  and  Arabic,  4to.     Rome,  1744. 
The  Alexandrian  Psalter,  Coptic  and  Arabic,  4to.  Rome, 

1749. 
Both  these  Psalters  were  published  by  the  congregation  de  Pro^mgan- 
dafide,  with  ttie  view  of  being  sent  to  Egypt.     The  Arabic  version  was 
added  to  render  tlie  Coptic  more  intelligible:  for  that  language,  it  ap- 
pears, is  little  understood  by  the  Copts  tiiemselvcs. — Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  282. 
The  Song  of  Songs,  in  Ethiopic,  Arabic,  and  Latin,  with 
Notes  by  John  George  Nisselius.     Leyden,  1656.    Le 
Long,  torn.  i.  p.    4. 
The  New  Testament  in  Arabic,  edited  by  Thomas  Erpe- 
nius,  from  the  Scaliger  MS.  Leyden.  1616.  Ibid.  torn. 
i.  p.  \25. 
The  New  Testament  in  Syriac  and  Arabic,  folio.    Rome, 
1703.  Printed  by  the  congregation  de  propaganda  Jide. 
Bib.  Diet.  vol.  vi. 
The  New  Testament  in  Arabic,  London,  1 727,  quarto. 
This  edition,  consisting  often   thousand  copies,  was   prir.ted  at  the 
expence  of  the  Society  for  promoting  Christian  Knowledge,  under  the 
superintendence  of  Solomon  Negri;  and  copies  of  it  have  been  sent, 
from  time  to  time,  for  distribution  in  the  East,  particularly  to  the  Dan- 
ish missionaries  in  India. — Ibid.  vol.  vi.p.  204, 


540  Appendix. 

The  Four  Gospels  in  Arabic,  mthout  points,  beautifully 
printed,  and  adorned  with  wood  cuts,  folio.  Rome, 
1591.  Ibid.  vol.  vi.  p.  205. 
The  Four  Gospels  in  Arabic,  printed  at  the  expence  of 
Athanasius,  the  Antiochan  patriarch  of  the  Greeks, 
folio,  Aleppo,  1706.  Le  Long,  torn.  i.  p.  126. 
The  Gospel  according  to  Matthew  in  Arabic,  edited  by 

D.  J.  H.  Callenberg,  Halle,  1741. 
The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  in  Arabic,  edited  by  D.  J.  H. 

Callenberg,  Halle,  1742. 
The  Episde  of  Paul  to  the  Romans,  edited  by  D.  J.  H: 

^  Callenberg,  Halle,  1741, 
The  Epistle  of  Paul  to  the  Hebrews,  edited,  by  D.  J.  H. 

Callenberg,  Halle,  1742, 
These  editions  of  the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles, 
and  the  Epistles  to  the  Romans  and  to  the  Hebrews,  were  a  transcript 
ot  the  London  Poljglott,  and  were  printed  at  the  press  of  the  Jewish 
Institution  at  Halle,  and  sent  for  distribution  in  the  East,  particularly  to 
the  JJanish  rnissionaries  in  India.— Bib.  Diet.  vol.  vi.  p.  206. 

The  Epistles  to  the  Galatians  in  Arabic,  from  a  MS.  in 

the  Heidelberg  Library,  quarto,  Heidelberg,  158  3, 
The  Epistle  to  Titus  in  Arabic,  with  an  interlinear,  Latin 
version,  by  John  Antonidas,  quarto,  1612.     Le  Long, 
torn.  i.  p.  1^6. 
The  Epistles  of  James,  John,  and  Jude,  in  Arabic,  Ethio- 
pic,  and  Latin,  with  notes,  by  Nisselius   and  Petraeus, 
quarto,  Leyden,  1654.     Ibid,  torn.  i.  p.  46, 
The  Epistle  of  James  in  Arabic,  with  a  Latin  translation, 

by  Nicolas  Panecius,  quarto,  Witteberg,  1694. 
The  Epistles  of  John  in  Arabic  and  Latin,  by  Jonas  Ham- 

^  br^us,  lomo.  Paris,  1630. 
The  Epistle  of  Jude,  edited  from  an  ancient  Heidelberg 

MS.  folio,  Breslaw,  1611,     Ibid,  torn,  i,  p.  126. 
The  Apocalypse  of  John  in  Arabic.     A  prmted  copy 
among  the  codices  in  the   Bodleian  Library,     Ibid, 
torn.  i.  p.  127. 
The  New  Testament  translated  into  Arabic,  by  Nathaniel 
Sabat,- under  the  superintendence  of  the  late  Rev.  Hen- 
ry Martyn  of  Cawnpore,  MS. 
Sabat  was  a  native  of  Arabia,  who  had  embraced  Christianity;  and  in 
consequence  oftiiis,  he  was  employed  to  make  a  translation  of  the  Ho- 
ly Scriptures  into  the  Arabic  lanj^uage.     He  was  educated,  it  is  said, 
under  the  care  of  the  most  learned  man  in  Bagdad,  and  his  attainments, 
as  a  scholar,  are  represented  as  very  considerable. — Report.  Brit,  and 
Fur.  Bib.  Soc.  1811,  Append,  p.  24.     After  completing  the  New  Tes- 


List  of  Translations*  541 

lament,  he  began  a  translation  of  the  Old;  and,  according  to  the  latest 
accounts,  lie  had  completed  the  Pentateuch  and  a  great  part  of  the 
Psalms;  (Ibid.  1812,  p.  13.  Ibid.  1813,  Append,  p.  86.)  but  since  that 
time  he  has  relinquished  the  work.  Bapt.  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  v. 
p.  62. 

ARAWACK. 

Harmony  of  the  Four  Gospels  in  Arawack,  the  language 
of  the  Indians  at  Hope,  on  the  river  Corentyn,  in  South 
America,  by  the  Moravian  missionaries,  MS»  Mora- 
vian Period.  Accounts,  vol.  i,  p.  98, 

ASSAM. 

The  New  Testament  in  the  Assam  language,  translating 
by  the  Baptist  missionaries  at  Serampore.  Baptist  Pe- 
riod. Accounts,  vol.  v.  p.  43. 

BALOCH. 

The  Gospel  according  to  Mark  in   Baloch,  MS.     Sec 

Afghan, 

BENGALEE. 

The  New  Testament  in  Bengalee  by  William  Carey,  D.  D» 
one  of  the  Baptist  missionaries  at  Serampore,  and  pro- 
fessor of  Bengalee,   Mahratta,  and   Sungskrit,   in  the 
college  of  Fort  William. 
The  first  edition  of  this  work  was  printed  at  Serampore  in   1801: 
since  that  time  it  has  proceeded  to  a  third  edition,  which,  according  to 
the  latest  accounts,  was  already  nearly  circulated. — Baptist  Period. 
Accounts,  vol.  ii.  and  vol.  v.  p.  42. 

The  Old  Testament   in  Bengalee,    by    William  Carey, 

D.  D.  in  four  volumes,  octavo* 
The  first  volume  of  this  work,  containing  the  Pentateuch,  was  pub- 
lished in  1802;  the  sccon«l,  containing  the  Hagiographia,  in  1803:  the 
third,  containg  the  Prophetical  books,  in  1807;  and  the  last,  containing 
the  Historical  books,  in  1809 — Memoir  addressed  to  the  Baptist  Mis- 
sionary Society,  relative  to  the  Translation  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures. 
Baptist  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iv.  p.  58.* 

•  We  are  informed  that  Antonio,  a  Roman  Catholic  Missionary  at  Roglepoor, 
on  the  GaTipfc  s,  has  translated  tlie  Oos^-els  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  into  the  lan- 
J^viages  of  tluit  diatrict.  Mursh's  Hisioi-y  ui'  the  Translations  of  the  Scriptures,  p. 
108.    Whether  the  language  here  alkided  to  is  the  Bengalee,  we  do  not  know. 


542  Appendix, 


BILOCHEE. 


The  New  Testament  translating  into  Bilochee,  the  lan- 
guage which  is  spoken  in  the  country  that  lies  on  the 
western  shore  of  the  Indus,  and  separates  India  from 
Persia;  by  the  Baptist  missionaries  at  Serampore* 
Baptist  Period*  Accounts,  vol.  v,  p.  6i. 

BRAZILIAN. 

The  Old  and  New  Testament,  translated  into  the  Bra- 
zilian language,  by  an  English  minister.  Le  Long 
Bibliotheca  Sacra,  tom,  i.  p.  448. 

BUGIS. 

The  Gospel  according  to  Mark  in  Bugis,  MS.     See  Ar- 

GHAN. 
The  Bugis  and  Macassar  are  the  languages  of  two  of  the  most  noble 
and  enterprising  nations  of  the  East,  though  they  are  far  from  being 
equally  numerous.  They  are  the  original  languages  of  the  island  of 
Celebes;  but  are  spoken  in  the  Bugis  and  Macassar  settlements  on 
Borneo  and  several  other  islands,  which  are  generally  comprehended 
under  the  name  of  the  Malay  Archipelago. — Report.  Brit,  and  For. 
Bib.  Soc.   1811,  App.  p.  77. 

BURMAN. 

The  Collects,   Gospels,    and   Epistles,  according  to  the 
Ritual  of  the  Church   of  Rome,  in    Burman.     Trans- 
actions of  the  Missionary  Society,  vol.  iii.  p.  372. 
Scripture  Extracts  in  Burman. 

The  Baptist  missionaries  at  Serampore  have  printed  two  small  works 
in  Burman,  consisting  of  Scripture  extracts.  The  largest  of  these  con- 
tains an  account  of  the  creation  of  the  world,  and  the  fall  of  man,  the 
prophecies  concerning  Christ,  the  life  and  death  of  our  Saviour,  the 
last  judgment.  &c. — Baptist  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iv.  p.  257. 

The  New  Testament  in  Burman,  translating  by  the  Bap- 
tist missionaries  at  Serampore.     Ibid.  vol.  v.  p.  48. 

CALMUCK. 

J.  Maltsch,  one  of  the  United  Brethren  at  Serepta,  trans- 
lated a  great  part  of  the  Gospels  into  Calmuck;  but  as 
his  acquaintance  with  the  language  was  imperfect,  the 
work  is  probably  of  no  great  value.  Moravian  Period. 
Accounts,  vol,  ii.  p.  192,  193. 


List  of  TranslatioJis.  543 

Some  parts  of  the  Gospels,  &c.  have  also  been  translated 
into  Calmuck,  chiefly  by  Conrad  Neitz,  another  of  the 
Brethren,  These  are  represented  as  very  correct.  Re- 
port Brit,  and  For^Bib.  Soc.  1808,  p.  29. 

The  Gospel  according  to  Matthew,  in  Calmuck,  by  Isaac. 
Jacob  Schmidt,  one  of  the.  Brethren  late  of  Sarepta, 
MS. 

This  work  is  ready  foiTlhe  press,  and  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society,  being  satisfied  of  the  competency  of  the  translator,  have  en- 
couraged him  to  proceed  in  translating  the  whole  of  the  New-Testa- 
ment—Report  Brit,  and  For.  Bib.  Soc.  1813,  p.  33.  App.  p.  16. 

CASHMIRE. 

The  New  Testament,  in  the  Cashmire  language,  transla- 
ting by  the  Baptist  missionaries  at  Serampore.  Baptist 
Period.  Accounts,  vol.  v.  p.  43. 

CHINESE. 

The  Psalter  in  Chinese,  as  part  of  the  Romish  Breviary, 

translated  by  Louis  Buglio. 
The  Gospels  and  Epistles  for  the  whole  year,  in  Chinese, 
forming  part  of  the  Romish  Missal,  translated  by  Louis 
Buglio. 
The  Dominical  Gospels  for  the  whole  year,  by  Emman- 

uel  Dias,  with  his  Commentaries,  14  volumes. 
Sentences  from  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  the  writings  of 
the  Fathers,  for  each  day  of  the  year,  in  Chinese,   by 
James  Rho. 
The  Lord's  Prayer,  in  Chinese,  with  a  Latin  version,  and 
the  notes  of  Andrew  MuUer,  quarto,  1676.     Le  Long, 
Bibliotheca  Sacra,  vol.  i.  p.  145, 
The  Lord's  Prayer,  in  Chinese,  with  the  English  transla- 
tion,  by  Robert  Morrison,    printed  in  the  Evangelical 
Magazine,  vol.  xxi. 
Harmony  of  the  Four  Gospels,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles, 
the  Epistles  of  Paul,  and  the  first  chapter  of  the  He- 
brews, in  Chinese,  MS. 
We  are  acquainted   with  three  copies  of  this  valuable  manuscript. 
One  in  the  British  Museum  in  folio,  lettered  by  mistake  Evan^ciia 
Qtiatuor  Sijiicc;   a  second  in  the  library  of  Greenwich  Observatory, 
whicli,  in  respect  of  beauty  of  paper  and  writing,  is  much  inferior  to 
the  copy  in  the  British  Museum,  but  it  lias  tiie  points  used  in  China, 
which  the  other  wants;  and   a  third   was  transcribed  by  Young  Saara 
Tak,  a  native  of  China,  and  was  carried  by  Mr.  Morrison  to  that  coun- 


544  %  Appendix* 

try,  with  the  view  of  assisting  him  in  making  a  translation  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  into  the  Chinese  language.  Mosely's  Memoir  on  the  Im- 
portance and  Practibility  of  Translating  the  Holy  Scriptures  into  the 
Chinese,  2d  Edit.  p.  20. — Evangelical  Magazine,  vol.  ix.  p.  445,  Mis- 
sionary Transactions,  vol.  iii.  p.  340. 

The  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  in  Chmese,  by  Robert  Morri- 
son, Canton,,  1810. 
The  Gospel  according  to  Luke,  in  Chinese,   by  Robert 

Morrison,  Canton,  1811. 
Besides  these,  Mr.  Morrison,  by  the  latest  accounts,  had  in  the  press 
the  Epistles  to  the  Romans,  Corinthians,  Galatians,  Ephesians,  Philip- 
pians,  Thessalonians,  Timothy  and  Titus,  also  the  Epistles  of  Peter  and 
James,  and  a  second  edition  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  corrected,  with 
the  verses  annexed. — Evan.  Mag.  vol.  xxi.  p.  397.  Whether  all  these 
are  newly  translated  by  Mr.  Morrison,  or  whether  they  are  in  part  ta- 
ken from  the  manuscript  which  he  carried  out  with  him,  we  do  not  cer- 
tainly know. 

The  New   Testament,  in    the  Chinese  language,  by  Mr. 
John  Lassar,  from  Macao,  and  Joshua  Marshman,  D.  D. 
one  of  the  Baptist  missionaries  at  Serampore. 
The  translation  is  completed,  and  in  August  1812,  the  Gospel  accord- 
ing to  John  was  in  press. 

The  Old  Testament  in  the  Chinese  language,  translating 
by  Mr.  John  Lassar,  and  Joshua  Marshman,  D.  D. 
Baptist  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  v.  p.  42. 

CINGALESE. 

The  Four  Gospels  in  Cingalese,  Columbo,  1739,  quarto. 
The  Psalms  of  David  in  Cingalese,  1756,  octavo.  • 
The  Psalms  of  David,  with  musical  notes,  and  the  Cinga- 
lese text  interlined,  1763. 
Tlie  Acts  of  the  Apostles  in  Cingalese,  Columbo,  1771, 

quarto.     Bib.  Diet.  vol.  i.  p.  286. 
The  New  Testament  in  Cingalese,  Columbo,  1783. 
The  Books  of  Genesis,  Exodus,  and   part  of  Leviticus, 
Columbo,  1783.  Report  Brit,  and  For.  Bib.  Soc.  1810, 
Append,  p.  86. 
The  Old  Testament  to  the  book  of  Job,  by   a   native 

clergyman  of  the  name  of  Philips,  MS. 
This  manuscript  is  deposited  among  the  archives  of  the  Dutch  church 
at  Columbo;  but  on  examination  it  was  found  to  be  deficient  in  many 
places.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Giffening,  a  Dutch  minister  born  in  Ceylon,  and 
versed  in  the  Cingalese  language,  has  lately  undertaken  to  revise  and 
complete  the  translation.— Report  Brit,  jyid  For.  Bib.  Soc.  1813,  App. 
p.  18. 


List  of  Translations,  545 


CREOLE. 

The  New  Testament  in  Creole,  Copenhagen,  1781.  Re- 
port Brit,  and  For.  Bib.  Soc  1811,  Append,  p.  131. 

ESQUIMAUX. 

Harmony  of  the  Four  Gospels,   in  Esquimaux,  by  the 
Moravian  missionaries,  printed.    Moravian  Period.  Ac- 
counts, vol.  V.  p.  2'i, 
The  Gospel   according  to  John,  in   Esquimaux,  by   the 

Moravian  missionaries,  1810. 
The  Gospels  according  to  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke,  by 

the  Moravian  missionaries,  1813, 
Besides  these,  the  missionaries  liave  translated  into  Esquimaux,  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  the  Epistles  to  the  Romans  the  Corinthians,  and 
the  Epiiesians,  and  it  is  expected  that  in  a  few  years  they  will  complete 
a  version  of  the  whole  New  Testament. — Report  Brit,  and  For.  Bib. 
Soc.  ISIO,  p.  42.  Ibid.  1811,  p  23,  Append,  p.  70.  Ibid.  1812,  Ap- 
pend, p.  43.  Ibid.  1813,  p.  36.  Moravian  Period.  Accounts,  vol. 
V.  p.  :402. 

FORMOSAN. 

The  Gospels  of  St.  Matthew  and  St.  John  in  the  Formo- 
san  language,  with  a  Dutch  version,  by  Daniel  Gravius, 
Amsterdam,  1661,  quarto.  Le  Long,  Bibliotheca  Sa- 
cra, vol.  i.  p.  145. 

GREENLAND. 

The  New  Testament  in  the  Greenland  language,  by  Paul 

Egede. 
The  New  Testament  in  the  Greenland  language,  by 
Fabricus,  another  of  the  Danish  missionaries,  Copen- 
hagen, 1799. 
Both  these  translations  have  been  printed,  but  they  are  so  imperfect, 
that  they  are  not  understood  by  the    people.     MS.  Accounts  in   the 
author's  possession. 

Harmony  of  the  Four  Gospels,  by  the  Moravian  mission. 

aries.  Moravian  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  v.  p.  23. 
Besides  the  Harmony  of  the  Gospels,  which  the  Brethren  translated 
a  few  years  after  tlicir  settlement  in  Greenland,  and  which  has  since 
been  printed,  they  have  translated  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  the 
Epistles  of  Paul,  and  such  portions  of  the  Old  Testament  as  they  judged 
most  necessary  for  the  Christian  converts.  These  are  still  in  manu- 
script; but  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  have  otFercd  to  be  at 
VOL.  ir.  T)  Z 


J  46  Appendix. 

the  expense  of  printing  them,  a  proposal  which  we  hope  will  soon  be 
carried  into  ell'ect.     MS.  Accounts  in  the  author's  possession. 

GUZERATTEE. 

The  New  Testament  translated  into  Guzerattee,   by  the 
Baptist  missionaries,  at  Serampore. 

This  work  M'as  completed  some  yeai'S  ago,  and  the  printing  of  it  was 
begun;  but  it  has  since  been  stopped,  in  consequeuce  of  the  inadequacj 
of  their  funds.     Bapt.  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iv.  p.  244.  vol.  v.  Preface 
p.  7. 

IIINDOSTANEE. 

The  four  first  chapters  of  Genesis  in  Hindostanee,   by 
Benjamin   Schulz,  one    of  the  Danish  missionaries  in 
India,  Halle,  1745,  octavo. 
The  Psalms   of  David   in    Hindostanee,    by   Benjamin 

Schulz,  Halle,  1747,  octavo. 
The  Book  of  Daniel  in  Hindostanee,  by  Benjamin  Schulz, 

Halle,  1748,  octavo. 
The  New  Testament  in  Hindostanee,  by  Benjamin  Schulz, 

Halle,  1758,  octavo. 
This   work  was  completed  in  1758:  but  several  of  the  books  were 
previously  published  separately.     It  was  printed  in  the  Persic  char- 
acter.    Bib.  Die.  vol.  i.  p.  285;  vol.  vi.  p.  222. 

The  Four  Gospels,  translated  into  Hindostanee,  by  learn- 
ed natives,  and  collated  with  the  original  Greek,   by 
William  Hunter,  Esq.  Calcutta,   1804.     Marsh's  His- 
tory of  the  Translations  of  the  Scriptures,  p.  38,  67. 
The  New  Testament  in  Hindostanee,  by  William  Carey, 
D.  D.  Serampore,    1811.     Bapt.   Period.    Accoimts, 
vol.  iv.  p.  384. 
The  Old  Testament  in  Hindostanee,  translating  by  Wil- 
liam Carey,  D.  D.     Ibid.  vol.  v.  p.  43. 
'ilie  Gospels,  translated  into  the  Brij   Bhasha,  a  peculiar 
dialect  of  Hindostanee,  spoken  in  the   neighbourhood 
of  Agra,  by  John  Chamberlaine,  one  of  the  Baptist  mis- 
sionaries.    Ibid.  vol.  V.  p.  61. 
The  New  Testament  translated  into  Hindostanee,  by  Mir- 
za   Fitrut,  a  learned  native,  under  the  superintendence 
of  the  lute  Rev.  Henry  Martyn  of  Cawnpore. 
This  work  is  in  the  press;  and  the  translator,  after  finishing  the  New 
Testament,  began  a  translation  of  the  Old,  and  according   to  the  last 
accounts,  had  finished   the  Pentateucli. — Report    Brit,  and  For.   Bib. 
«oc.  1811,  p.  23.     Ibid.  1812,  p.   13.  Append,  p.  75.     Ibid.  1813,  Ap- 
^)end,  p.  85. 


List  of  Translations.  547 

The  Hintlostanee  language  has  admitted,  perhaps  a  greater  iiumher 
of  foreign  words  .into  it,  than  any  other  of  the  dialects  of  India.  Thp. 
mixture  is  so  great,  as  to  render  at  least  two  different  translations  ab- 
solutely necessary;  one  which  draws  principally  on  the  Persian  and 
Arabic  languages,  for  a  supply  of  different  words;  another  which  has 
recourse  in  the  same  manner  to  the  Sungskrit.  Mr.  Hunter's  Trans- 
lation of  the  Four  Gospels,  was  into  the  former  of  these  dialects,  and 
was  in  many  places  perfectly  unintelligible  to  Sungskrit  pundits.  That 
by  Dr.  Carey  was  into  the  latter^  and  is  probably  as  little  understood 
by  Mussulman  monshees.  Memoir  relative  to  the  Translations  of  the 
Scriptures,  addressed  to  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  p.  10.  Bapt. 
Period.  Accounts.  The  translation  which  Mr.  Martjn  superintended 
was  understood  chiefly  by  the  learned,  particularly  Mussulmen,  (MS. 
Accounts,)  and  therefore  we  suppose  it  was  into  the  same  dialect  as 
Mr.  Hunter's. 

KURNATA. 

The  New  Testament  in  Kurnata,  translating  by  the  Bap- 
tist missionaries  at  Seramporc.  Bapt.  Period.  Accounts, 
vol.  V,  p.  43. 

The  New  Testament  in  Kurnata,  translating  by  Mr. 
Hands,  at  Belhary,  where  the  language  is  spoken.  Re- 
port of  the  Missionary  Society,  181.,  p.  11,  26. 

LAPPONESE. 

The  Lapponese  Manuel,  containing  the  Psalms  of  David, 

the  Proverbs  of  Solomon,  Ecclesiasticus,  the  Lessons 
-    from  the  Gospels  and  Epistles,  with  the  history  of  the 

passion  of  Christ,  &c.  by  John  Tornceus,  Stockholm, 

1648. 
Lessons  from  the  Gospels  and   Epistles,  the    history  of 

Christ's  passion,  &c.  in  the  Lapponese   language,   by 

Glaus  Stephan  Graan,   Stockholm,    1669.     Scheffer's 

History  of  Lapland,  p.  69. 
The  New  Testament  in   Lapponese,  1755.     Missionary 

Magazine,  vol.  xiv.  p.  377. 

MACASSAR. 

The  Gospel  according  to  Mark,  in  Macassar,  MS.  See 
Afghan  and  Bucis. 

MAHRATTA. 

The  New  Testament  in  the  Mahratta  language,  by  the 
Baptist  missionaries,  Serampore,  1811.  Bapt.  Period. 
Accounts,  vol.  iv.  p,  384. 


548  Appendix, 

The  Old  Testament  in  the  Mahratta  language,  translating 
and  printing,  by  the  Baptist  missionaries  at  Serampore. 
Ibid.  vol.  V.  p.  43. 

MALAY. 

The  Gospels  according  to  Matthew  and  Mark  in  Malay, 
In  Arabic  characters,  with  the  Dutch  version,  by  Al- 
bert Cornelius  Ruyl,  quarto,  Enchusa,  1629,  Amster- 
dam,  1638. 

The  Gospels  occording  to  Luke  and  John  in  Malay,  with 
the  Dutch  version,  by  John  Van  Hasel,  revised  and 
corrected  by  Justus  Heurn.  Printed  by  the  command, 
and  at  the  expence  of  the  directors  of  the  East  India 
Company,  quarto,  Amsterdam,  1646. 

The  Four  Gospels  in  Malay,  according  to  the  Dutch 
translation  of  the  year  1637,  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles, by  Justus  Heurn,  quarto,  Amsterdam,  1651.  Le 
Long  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  vol.  i.  p.  144. 

Tliis  is  a  corrected  edition  of  the  translations  by  Ruyl  and  Hasel,  with 
the  addition  of  Heurn's  own  version  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles. — 
Bib.  Diet.  vol.  vi.  p.  225. 

The  New  Testament  in  Malay,  by  Daniel  Brower,  print- 
ed by  the  command,  and  at  the  expence  of  the  East 
India  company,  Amsterdam,  1668.  Le  Long,  Biblio- 
theca Sacra,  vol.  i.  p.  144. 

The  Four  Gospels  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  in  Malay, 
quarto,  Oxford,  1677. 

This  edition  was  taken  from  Heurn's,  and  printed  at  the  expense  of 
tlie  honourable  Mr.  Boyle;  but  as  it  was  in  koman  characters,  it  could 
be  of  little  use  to  those  for  whom  it  was  designed. — Bib.  Diet.  vol.  i. 
p.  225. 

The  Book  of  Genesis  in  Malay,  by  Daniel  Brower,  with 
the  Dutch  version,  according  to  the  translation  of  the 
year  1637,  quarto,  Amsterdam,  1662.  Le  Long,  Bib- 
liotheca Sacra,  vol  i.  p.  144. 

The  Psalter  in  Malay  and  Dutch,  by  John  Van  Hasel  and 
Justus  Heurn,  quarto,  Amsterdam,  1689. 

Ukka  Wlu'  Ldjadid,  Ija  Ita  Segula  Surat  Perdjandjian 
Baharuw  Atas  Titah  Segola  Tuwan  Pemmarentali 
Kompania,  1731,  quarto.    Bib.  Diet.  voU  i.  p.  283. 

The  Old  and  New  Testament  in  Malay,  Amsterdam, 
1733. 

This,  as  well  as  the  former  work,  was  printed  in  Roman  characters. 
Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  x.  p.  188.   . 


List  of  Translations,  549 

The  Psalter  in  Malay,  with  musical  notes,   quarto,  Am- 
sterdam, .73  .     Bib.  Diet.  vol.  i.  p.  284. 
The  Old  and  New  Testament  in  Malay,  in  five  volumes, 

Batavia,  17  8. 
This  was  the  version  of  1733,  in  Arabic  characters,  with  the 
addition  of  the  peculiar  Malay  letters.  It  was  published  by  the  direc- 
tion of  Jacob  Mossel,  governor-general  of  tlie  Dutch  possessions  in  the 
East;  and  was  superintended  by  John  Mauritz  Molu-  and  Herman  Peter 
Van  de  Werk.     Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  x.  p.  188. 

The  Gospels  in  Malay,  by  Thomas  Jarret,  Esq.  Marsh's 

History  of  the  Translations  of  the  Scriptures,  p.  39. 
The  preceeding  versions  by  the  Dutch,  we  are  informed  by  Dr.  Bu- 
chanan, is  in  the  Eastern  Mala},  which  is  materially  diiierent  I'roui  the 
Western  or  that  of  Sumatra.  Soon  after  the  institution  of  the  college 
of  fort  William,  Mr.  Jarret  was  employed  in  prejuaring  a  version  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  into  the  Western  Malay,  an  undertaking  for  which  he 
was  well  qualified,  having  resided  twelve  years  in  Sumatra.  When 
the  progress^  of  the  Biblical  translations  was  interrupted  in  the  college, 
he  continued  to  prosecute  the  work  at  Madras,  and  he  had  as  an  assis- 
tant a  learned  Malay  of  higli  rank,  who  came  from  Sumatra  for  the  pur- 
pose. But  to  what  extent  he  has  carried  the  work  we  do  not  know. 
Buchanan's  Researches,  p.  91.  Buchanan's  Apology  for  Promoting 
Christianity  in  India,  p.  71. 

MALDIVIAN. 

The  Gospels  according  to  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke;  and 
John.    Part  II.  in  Maldivian,  M^.    See  Afghan. 

The  Maldivian  language  is  spoken  in  the  large  Archipelago  of  Mal- 
dive  islands  to  the  south  Avest  of  Ceylon.  The  nation  which  inhabit 
them  is  numerous  and  enterprising;  the  rulers  are  generally  Moslems, 
the  subjects  Pagans.  The  character  is  original,  but  the  language  has  a 
distant  relation  to  the  Cingalese. — Report  Brit,  and  For.  Bib.  Soc 
1811,  Append,  p.  77. 

The  New  Testament  translating  into  Maldivian,  by  the 
Baptist  missionaries  at  Scrampore.  Bapt.  Period.  Ac- 
counts, vol.  v.  p.  61,^ 

MKXICAN. 

The  Proverbs  of  Solomon,  and  many  other  Fragments  of 

Holy  writ,   in  the  Mexican  language,  by  Louis  Rod- 

rigues. 
The  Epistles  and  Gospels  in  the  Mexican  language,  by 

one  of  the  order  of  St.   Mary,  who  died,   1579,     Le 

Long,  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  torn.  i.p.  448. 


fO  Appendix, 

MIXTECAN. 

The  Epistles  and  Gospels  in  Mixtecan,  the  vulgar  lan- 
guage of  New  Spain,  by  Benedict  Ferdinand,  who  flour- 
ished about  1568. 

The  Epistles  and  Gospels  in  the  idiom  which  is  spo^^eh 
by  the  Western  Indians,  translated  by  Arnold  a  Bosac- 
cio.     Le  Long,  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  torn.  i.  p.  448. 

NEPALESE. 

.♦ 

The  New  Testament,  translating  into  Nepalese  by  the 
Baptist  missionaries  at  Serampore.  Bapt.  Period.  Ac- 
counts, vol.  V.  p.  61 

ORISSA. 

The  New  Testament  in  the  Orissa  language,  by  the  Bap- 
tist missionaries,  Serampore,  1809.  Bapt.  Period.  Ac- 
counts, vol.  iv.  p.  58, 

The  Old  Testament  in  the  Orissa  language,  translating 
and  printing  by  the  Baptist  missionaries  at  Serampore 
Ibid.  vol.  V.  p.  42. 

PERSIC. 

The  Hebrew  Pentateuch,  with  a  Persic  Translation  in  the 
Hebrew  character,  in  alternate  verses,  in  two  volumes, 
folio,  MS.  Bibl.  Colbertina  cod.  2468,  2469.  Le  Long, 
Bibliotheca  Sacra,  tom.  i.  p.  58- 

The  Pentateuch  in  Persic,  in  the  Persian  character,  with 
vowel  points,  taken  from  the  Constantinople  edition, 
MS. 

The  same  version  of  the  Pentateuch,  in  Hebrew  charac- 
ters, MS.  Bibl.  Bodleiana  cod.  8639. 

The  books  of  Joshua,  Judges,  Ruth,  Ezra,  and  Nehemiah, 
in  Persic,  in  the  Hebrew  character,  MS.  Bibl.  Colber^ 
tina  cod,  4602. 

The  four  books  of  Kings,  in  Persic,  in  the  Hebrew  char- 
acter, MS.  Ibid.  cod.  4601. 

The  book  of  Job,  in  Persic,  in  the  Hebrew  character, 
MS.  Ibid.  cod.  4606,  4607,  4G08. 

The  books  of  Solomon,  Esther,  and  Ruth,  in  Persic, 
MS.  /6?V,  cod.  46Q5. 


List  of  ^Translations,  551 

The  books  of  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah,  in  Persic,  MS.     Ibid. 

cod,  4609,  4610. 
The  book    of  Daniel,   in  Persic,   MS.     Ibid.  cod.  4603, 

4604. 
The  twelve  minor  Prophets,  in  Persic,  MS.     Ibid,  cod: 

4610. 
The   Psalms,  in  Persic,  MS.     BibL  Bodleiaria  cod.  437, 

3928. 
The  Psalms  in  Persic,   MS.     BibL  Vindob.  cod,  49,  de 

jYisseL 
The  Psalms  in  Persic,  from  the  Latin,  MS.     Oxotiii  iti 

BibL  Collegii  S,  Joannis  cod.  15, 16.  JVum,  1753,  1754. 
The  Psalms  'in  Persic,    from  the   Vulgate,  MS.     BibL 

Bodleiafia  cod.  3776. 
The  Psalms  in  Persic,  from  the  Latin,  by  some  Jesuits, 

MS,     BibL  Bodleiana  cod.  3044. 
The  Psalms  in   Persic,   with  various  readings   from  two 

other  copies,  by  John  Baptist  Vecchietti,  a  Florentine, 
^^in  the  year  1601,  MS. 
The  books  of  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,   and  Baruch,  in   Persic. 

MS. 
The  Proverbs  of  Solomon,  Ecclesiastes,  and  the  Song  of 

Songs,  in  Persic,  MS. 
The  Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes,  and  the  Song  of  Songs,  in 

Persic,  written  in  the  Hebrew  character,  MS. 
The  book  of  Esther,   in  Persic,  written  in  the  Hebrew 

character,  MS. 
The  Four  Gospels,  in  Persic,  MS,  beautifully  written. 

The  last  six  manuscripts  were  formerly  in  the  library  of 
the  learned  Renaudot, 
The  New  Testament,  in  Persic,  MS.     BibL  Lambethana^ 
The  Gospels  in  Persic,  MS. 
The  Four  Gospels  in  Persic,  from  the  Syriac,  by  Simon, 

a  Persian  Christian,  according  to  Dr.  Hyde,  MS.  BibL 

Boodleiana  cod.  5453.  A. 
The  Four  Gospels  in  Persic,  with  a  Latin   Exposition, 

MS. 
The  Four  Gospels  in  Persic,  MS,     Cantabrigicsi.  BibL 

Collegii  KmanueLs  cod.  64.  B: 
The  Four  Gospels  in  Persic,  MS.     BibL  Bodleiana  cod.. 

395. 
The  Four  Gospels  in  Persic,  MS.     BibL  Leidensis  cod. 

WarncriarM,    91,  671,  701,.  p.  410      Catalologi  in  folio  ^ 


552  Appendix, 

The  Gospel  of  Christ  in  Persic,  MS.     Bibliotheca  Fin- 
dobo?iensis  cod.  49,  de  Nissel. 

The  Four  Gospels  in  Persic,  MS. 

The  Gospel  according  to  Matthew  in  Persic,  MS.     Bib- 
lioth.      Medic cee  P alalia   cod.    17.      D*Herbelot      Le 
Long,  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  torn*  i.  p.  132. 
The  Pentateuch  in  Persic,  in  the  Hebrew  character,  trans- 
lated by  Rabbi  Jacob,  a  Jew,  for  the  use  of  his  brethren 
residing  in  Persia.     Constantinople,  1546* 
This  was  pi'inted  in  a  Polyglott  edition  of  the  Pentateuch,  which  was 
published  at  Constantinople  in  1546,  or,  as  is  sometimes  said,   1551; 
and  which,  besides  the  Persic  version,  contained  the  five  books  of  Mo- 
ses, in  Hebrew,  Chaldee,  and  Arabic. — Ibid.  torn.  i.  p.  41, 134 

The  Pentateuch  and  the  Four  Gospels  in  Persic,  in  the 

London  Polyglott,     London,  1657, 
The   Pentateuch,  as  printed  in  the  London    Polyglott,  is  a  copy  of 
Rabbi  Jacob's  version,  but  it  is  printed  in  Persic,  not  in  Hebrew  char- 
acters.    The   Four  Gospels  are  taken  from  the  MS.  of  Simon  in  the 
Bodleian  Library,  which  we  have  marked  above,  A.     This  version,  ac- 
cording to  Walton,  is  the  most  ancient  and  the   best   we  possess;  but 
by  others  it  is  said  to  be  very  incorrect,  and  of  little  use.     Ibid.  torn.  i. 
p.  132,  133,  134.     Encyclopaedia  Bntannica.  Article  Bible. 
The  Four  Gospels  in  Persic,  folio,  London,  1657. 
This  edition  was  printed  from  the  Cambridge  MS.   which  we  have 
marked  above,  B.  and  which  is  a  translation,  not  from  the  Greek,  but 
the  Syriac.     The  publication  of  it  was  begun  by  Abraham  Wheelock, 
professor  of  Arabic  in  the  University  of  Cambridge,  but  he  did  not  live 
to  finish  it.     It   was  completed,  however,  by  Mr.  Pierson.     Ibid.  torn, 
i.  p.  134;  Bib.  Diet  vol.  vi.  p.  226. 

The  Four  Gospels  in  Persic,  translated  bv  order  of  Na- 
dir Shah.  MS. 
It  is  a  curious  fact,  that  in  the  year  1740,  Nadir  Shah,  the  usurper 
of  the  throne  of  Persia,  who  is  so  distinguished  for  his  cruelties,  order- 
ed a  translation  of  the  Four  Gospels  to  be  made  into  the  Persic  lan- 
guage; but  the  work  was  completely  bungled  through  the  negligence 
and  unlaithfulness  of  those  who  were  employed  in  it.  They  were  only 
six  months  in  completing  the  translation,  and  transcribing  several  fair 
copies  of  it:  and  they  dressed  it  up  with  all  the  foolish  glosses  which  the 
fables  of  the  Koran  could  warrant.  Their  chief  guide  was  an  ancient 
Arabic  and  Persic  version.     Ilanway's  Travels,  vol.  ii.  p.  404. 

The  Gospel  according  to  Luke,  in  Persic,  Halle,    1744. 

Bib.  Diet.  vol.  vi.p.  227. 
Twenty  chapters  of  the  Gospel  according  to  Matthew,  by 
the  late   William  Chambers,   Esq.  of  Calcutta.      Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Society  for  Missions  to  Africa  and  the 
East,  vol.  i. 
That  part  of  this  translation  which  contains  our  Lord's  Sermon  on 
tiie  Mount,  has  beeji  printed.     Bib.  Diet.  vol.  vi.  p.  227". 


lAst  of  Translations.  553 

The  Gospels  in  Persic,  by  lieutenant  colonel  Colebrooke, 
late  surveyor-general  of  Bengal,  Calcutta,  180  *.  Marsh's 
History  of  the  Translations  of  the  Scriptures,  p.  39,  77, 
The  New  Testament;  translating  into  Persic,  by  Nathan- 
iel Sabat,  under  the  superintendence  of  the  Rev.  Henry 
Martyn  of  Cawnpore, 
Whether  Sabat  completed  this  v/ork  we  are  uncertain.   In  December 
1809,  he  had  advanced  to  the  end  of  the  first  Epistle  to  tlie  Corinthians; 
but  his  version  does  not  appear  to  have  given  satisfaction,  and  has  not 
been  printed.     Report  Brit,  and  For.  Bib.  Soc.  1811,  Append,  p.  24, 
74.     Ibid.  1813,  Append,  p.  86. 

The  New  Testament,  translating  into  Persic,  by  the  Rev. 

L.  Sebastiana. 
This  version  was  intended  for  the  use  of  the  Christians  dispersed 
over  Persia,  who  ar.*  represented  as  very  desirous  of  possessing  a  plain 
intelligible  translation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Sebastiana  was  many 
years  resident  at  the  court  of  Persia,  and  made  his  translation  immedi- 
ately from  the  Greek.  Report.  Brit,  and  For  Bib.  Soc.  1812,  p.  13, 
Apj)end.p.  71. 

The  New  Testament,  in   Persic,  by  the  late  Rev.  Henry 
Martyn  of  Cawnpore.    Report.  Brit,  and  For.  Bib.  Soc. 
181  J,  Append,  p.  86. 
Whether  this  translation  is  entirely  distinct  from  Sabat's  we  do  not 
know. 

PORTUGUESE. 

The   Pentateuch  in   Portuguese,  edited  by   the  Jews  of 
Amsterdam^     Le  Long,  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  torn,   i.  p, 

368. 
The  New  Testament  in  Portuguese,  translated  at  Batavia 

by  some  Dutch  ministers. 
As  the    first  edition  of  this  translation  was  very  incorrect,    it    was 
sent  to  Amsterdam,  where,  after  being  revised,  it  was  again  printed  in 
1681.     Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  the  East,  Part  II.  p.  14. 

The   New  Testament  in  Portuguese,    by  John  Ferreira 

d' Almeida. 
The  author  of  this  work  was  a  native  of  Portugal,  who,  though  edu- 
cated a  Roman  Catholic,  embraced  the  Reformed  Religion.     Niccampii 
Historia  Missionis  Evangelictt  in  India  Orientali,  p.  155. 

The  Old  Testament  in  Portuguese,  begun  by  John  Fer- 
reira d'Almeida,  and  completed  by  James  Op  Den 
Akker,  one  of  the  Dutch  ministers  of  Batavia.  Ibid, 
p.  273,  275,  360. 
The  Old  Testament  in  Portuguese,  by  the  Danish  mis- 
sionaries at  Tranquebar.  Ibid. 

VOL.  II.  4  A 


554  Appendix. 


SARAMECA. 


Harmony  of  the  Four  Gospels  in  Sarameca,  the  language 
spoktn  by  the  Free  Negroes  at  Bambey,  in  South 
America,  by  the  Moravian  missionaries,  MS.  Mora- 
vian Period,  Accounts,  vol.  iii.  p.  59. 


SHIKH. 

The  New  Testament  in  the  Shikh  language,  translating 
and  printing  by  the  Baptist  missionaries  at  Serampore. 
Baptist  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  v.  p.  43. 

SUNGSKRIT. 

The  New  Testament  in  the  Sungskrit  language,  by  Wil- 
liam Carey,  D.  D.  one  of  the  Baptist  missionaries  at 
Serampore,  and  professor  of  Bengalee,  Mahratta,  and 
Sungskrit,  in  the  college  of  fort  William,  Serampore, 
1809.     Baptist  Period.  Accounts,  vol.  iv.  p.  58. 

The  Old  Testament  in  the  Sungskrit  language,  translating 
by  William  Carey,  D.  D.     Ibid.  vol.  v.  p.  42. 

TAMUL. 

The  Gospel  of  Matthew,  translated  from  the  Portuguese 
into  Tamul,  .by  Francis  de  Fonseca.     Baldasus'  Des- 
cription of  the  Coasts  of  Malabar,  Coromandel,  and  Cey- 
lon, in  Churchhill's  Collection  of  Voyages  and  Travels, 
vol.  iii.  p.  719. 
The  New  Testament  in  Tamul,  by  Bartholomew  Ziegen- 
balg,  Tranquebar,  1715,  quarto.     Niecampii   Historia 
Missionis  Evangelicse  in  India  Orientali,  p.  183. 
The  Old    Testament  in  Tamul,  by  Barthalomew  Ziegen- 
balg  and  Benjamin  Schulz,  Tranquebar,  1727,  quarto. 
This  work  was  originally  published  in  three  parts;  the  first  of  which 
containing  the  five  books  of  Moses,  Joshua,  and  Judges,  was  published 
in  1720;  the  second,  containing  from  Ruth  to  the  prophetical  books,  in 
1726;  the  third,  containing  the  prophetical  books,  in  1727;   and  in  the 
following  year,  these  were  succeeded  by  the  Apowyphal  books.     Ibid. 
p.  224,  272,  287,  311. 

The  New  Testament  in  Tamul,  Columbo,  1743,  quarto. 

This  work  was  printed  in  Ceylon,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Dutch 
governor.  Bib.  Diet.  vol.  i.  p.  285.  Whether  it  is  a  distinct  translation 
from  Ziegenhalg's.  we  do  not  ki^ow. 


List  of  Translations*  5^5 

The  New  Testament  in  Tamul,  by  John  Philip  Fabricius, 
one  of  the  Danish  missionaries  in  India  Madras,  1777. 

Fabiicius,  the  author  of  this  work,  is  described  as  an  unparalleled  Ta- 
mul scholar;  and  his  translation  is  representeil  as  much  more  classical 
and  elegant  tluin  that  of  Ziegenbalg,  though  it  also  is  faitliful  enough. 
lieport  Brit,  and  For.  Bib.  Soc  1805,  p.  56.     Ibid.  1811,  Append,  p.  19. 

TELINGA. 

The  Old  and  New  Testament,  toi^ether  with  the  Apocry- 
pha, in  Teling-a,  by  Benjamin  Schulz.    Niecampii  His- 
toria  Missionis  Evangelicse  in  India  Orientali,  p.  296, 
365. 
This  work,  we  suppose,  was  never  printed.     It  is  probable  the  manu- 
script was  carried  by  the  author  to  Halle;  in  Saxony,  and  deposited  in 
tlie  Orphan  House  Library. 

several  Books  in  the  New  Testament  in  the  Telinga  lan- 
guage, by  captain  Dodds. 
Captain  Dodds,  a  nephew  to  the  late  Dr.  Caverhill,  a  physician  in 
London;  began  a  translation  of  the  New  Testament  into  the  Telinga 
language;  but  he  died  in  September  1795,  before  the  work  was  comple- 
ted.    iVlissionary  Magazine,  vol.  i.  p.  284. 

The  Gospels  according  to  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke,  in 
Telinga,  by  Augustus  Des  Granges,  assisted  by  Anun- 
darayer,  a  Christian  Brahmin,  Serampore,  1812, 
Besides  translating  these  three  Gospels,  Mr.  Des  Granges  had  com- 
pleted, previous  to  his  death,  a  first  copy  of  the  Gospel  according  to 
John,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  the  Epistle"^to  the  Romans,  and  the  first 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.     Report  Brit,  and  For.  Bib.  Soc.  1811,  p. 
114,^116.     Ibid.  1812,  p.  13. 

The  New  Testament  in  Telinga,  translating  and  printing 
by  the  Baptist  missionaries  at  Serampore.  Baptist  Pe- 
riod. Accounts,  vol.  v.  p.  43. 

TURKISH. 

The   Old  Testament  in  Turkish,  written  in  the  Hebrew 

character  for  the  use  of  the  Jews. 
The  Bible  translated  into  the  Turkish  language,  by  John 

Ungnadius. 
The  Bible,   in  the  Turkish  language,   MS.     Fuit.    olim 

Bibl.  Monachiensis.  Bibl.  Vinariensis. 
The  Pentateuch,  the.  books  of  Joshua,   Judges,   Samuel, 

and  Kings,  translated   from  the  Hebrew  into  Turkish, 

MS.     Bibl.  Lcidensis  Codex ^  p.  386.      fFarneriana^  p. 

409.     Catalogi  in  folio.     Le  Long,  Bibliotheca  Sacra, 

vol.  i.  p.  135. 


556  Appendix, 

The  Bible  translated  into  the  Turkish  huigiiage,  by  Hali 

Beigh,  MS. 
Hali  Beigh,  first  interpreter  at  the  Grand  Seignior's  court  in  the  17th 
century,  was  born  of  Christian  parents  in  Poland;  but  having  been  taken 
by  the  Tartars  when  he  was  young,  he  was  sold  by  them  to  the  Turks, 
who  brought  him  up  in  their  religion  in  the  seraglio.  Besides  writing 
various  other  works,  particularly  a  Grammar  and  Dictionary  of  the 
Turkish  language,  he  translated  the  whole  of  the  Bible  into  the  Turkish 
language,  for  Levinus  Warner,  who  sent  it  to  Leyden  that  it  might  be 
printed,  where  the  MS.  is  still  preserved  in  the  public  library.  Bibt. 
Zeidensis  cod.  p.  390,  391.  IVarneri  Ibid.  cod.  1101,  p.  410.  Catalogi 
in  folio.  Hali  I5eigh  proposed  returin^  into  the  bosom  of  the  Christian 
church,  but  he  died  before  he  accomplished  his  design.  Le  Long,  tom. 
i.  p.  36.   Encyclopsedia  Britannica,  Art.  Hall  Beigh. 

The  Psalms  of  David,  in  Turkish,  according  to  the  trans- 
lation of  the  Hali  Beigh,  MS.  formerly  in  the  possession 
of  Dr.  Hyde. 
The  Gospels  according  to  Matthew  and  John,  in  Turkish, 
written  at  Ispaham  in  Roman  characters,  by  M.  De 
Lauziere,  MS.  In  Bihl.  Upsaliensi  Le  Long,  tom.  i. 
p.  136. 
The  New  Testament  in  Turkish,   by  Lazarus  Seaman, 

quarto,  Oxford,   1666. 
This  work  was  published,  we  believe,  at  the  expence  of  the  English 
Turkey  Company.     It  was  sent  into  the  East,  and  proved  a  most  ac- 
ceptable present  to  the  Christians  in  that  part  of  the  world.     Fabricii 
Liux  Evaiigelii,  p.  596.     We  understand  it  is  an  excellent  translation. 
The  New    Testament   in  Turkish,  by    Henry   Brunton, 

Karass,  1813.     Religious  Monitor,  vol.  xiii.  p.  308. 
This  translation  is  into  the  language  of  the  Nogoy  Tartars,  which  is 
nearly  the  same  with  the  Kazan,  Buchanan,  and  Truckmanian,and  is  a 
particular  dialect  of  the   Turkish.    In  making  it,  Mr.  Brunton  derived 
essential  assistance  from  Dr.  Seaman's  translation;  but  still  it  is  proba- 
ble. Ills  version  would  be  considered  as  barbarous  at  Constantinople. 
The  Gospel  according  to  Luke,  in  Turkish- 
The  Acts  of  the  Aposdes,  in  the  Turkish. 
The  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  in  Turkish. 
The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  in  Turkish. 
The  First  Epistle  of  John,  with  the  beginning  of  his  Gos- 
pel, in  Turkish. 
These  were  all  taken  from  Seaman's  translation,  and  were  printed 
l)y  Callenberg,  at  the  Jewish  Institution  at  Halle,  in  Saxony,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  being  sent  into  Turkey.     Marsh's  Historv  of  the  Translations 
ot  the  Scriptures,  p.  9,  80. 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  TFIE  G03PKL 


THE  BRITISH  ISLES.* 


Christian  Friends,  and  Brethren, 

AS  we  are  met  together  to  consiiit  how  we  may 
most  effectually  communicate  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel  to 
those  nations  and  people  who  are  destitute  of  this  heavenly 
treasure;  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  enquire  hoxv  we  ourselves 
became  possessed  of  so  great  a  gift:  and  by  what  means, 
and  at  what  tirne,  our  happy  country,  once  full  of  gross 
darkness,  became  illuminated  by  this  Divine  light? 

The  information  we  have  on  these  points  comes,  partly 
from  tradition,  and  partly  from  authentic  history.  The  lat- 
ter does  not  reach  so  high  as  the  former;  nor  is  it  so  circum- 
stantial; but  they  have  been  in  early  times  so  blended  with 
each  other,  that  with  some,  the  ge?iuine  history  has  been 
confounded  with  uncertain  traditiojis,  and  so  rejected:  and 
the  tradition  has  been  by  others,  taken  for  authentic  history, 
and  all  its  extravagance  adopted.  In  these  circumstances, 
we  find  it  difficult  to  discern  truth  from  falsehood;  and  are 
obliged  to  go  to  writers  of  other  countries,  for  that  informa- 
tion which  we  are  afraid  to  receive  from  those  of  our  own. 

Where,  however,  the  voice  of  tradition  has  been  strong, 
unvarying  and  continued;  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  it 

*  This  account  of  the  Intro Juction  of  the  Gospel  into  Great  Britain, 
was  given  by  Dr.  A.  Clarke;  in  an  Address  delivered  in  London,  on 
Thursday  evening,  December  1st,  1814,  at  the  formation  of  a  Mink-io?!- 
ary  Society  among  the  people  caHcd  Methodists,  in  that  citv. 


558  The  Introduction  of  the  Gospel 

contains,  at  least,  the  outlines  of  truth:  and  it  would  be  as 
absurd  to  reject  all  it  utters,  as  it  would  be  dangerous  to  re- 
ceive all  its  amplifications  and  details. 

1,  The  tradition  which  is  of  the  highest  antiquity,  and 
has  been  the  most  generally  received  by  our  ancient  histo- 
rians, and  by  the  nation  at  large,  is  that  which  attributes  the 
introduction  of  the  Word  of  Life  into  Britain,  to  Joseph  of 
Arimathea.     The  substance  of  this  history,  is  as  follows: 

About  63  years  after  the  incarnation  of  our  Lord,  and  30 
after  his  ascension,  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  who  had  buried 
our  Lord's  body  in  his  own  tomb,  was  furnished  by  Philip 
the  Evangelist,  with  eleven  disciples,  and  sent  into  Britain 
to  introduce  the  Gospel  of  Christ  in  place  of  the  barbarous 
rites  of  the  Druids.  With  these  rites,  as  well  as  with  the 
people,  the  Roman  empire  had  become  well  acquainted 
through  the  writings  of  Julius  Caesar, 

These  holy  men,  on  their  landing,  applied  to  ylrviragus^ 
a  British  king,  for  permission  to  settle  in  a  rude  and  uncul- 
tivated spot,  called  Ynswytryn  by  the  British,  Avaloma  by 
the  Romans,  and  Glcesting-byrig  by  the  Saxons;  and  is  still 
known  by  the  name  of  Glastonbury.  Their  petition  was 
granted,  and  ttvelve  hides  of  land  were  assigned  for  their 
support;  and  the  place  is  to  this  day,  denominated  the 
twelve  hydes  of  Glaston.  Here,  according  to  this  tradition, 
the  standard  of  the  Cross  was  first  erected;  and  a  chapel 
made  of  xvicker-work^  was  the  first  church,  or  oratory ,  of 
God  in  Britain!     See  Dugdale's  Monasticon.  Vol.  L 

How  famous  this  place  became  afterwards,  it  is  not  ne- 
cessary here  to  enquire;  nor  shall  I  stop  to  mention,  much 
less  confute,  the  silly  legends  that  have  been  so  connected 
with  this  tradition  as  to  render  the  whole  almost  incredible. 

Allowing  the  main  circumstances  to  be  true;  we  find 
from  this  earliest  tradition,  that  the  first  establishment  of 
Christianity  in  this  country,  was  owing,  under  God,  to  the 
exertions  of  Missionaries:  a  subject  that  will  gain  increasing 
light  as  we  descend  with  tradition  and  history. 


into  the  British  Isles.  559 

2.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  these  first  labourers  would 
be  left  long  without  help,  as  Christianity  Avas  making  the 
most  rapid  progress  in  every  part  of  the  Roman  empire;  and 
a  considerable  connexion  subsisted  at  that  time,  between  the 
Roman  government  and  the  British  Isles: — The  Romans 
kept  up  this  intercourse,  principally  for  the  sake  of  extend- 
ing their  conquests,  and  establishing  those  which  they  had 
already  made:  but  such  was  the  div.ded  and  distro.  ted  state 
of  Bi'itain,  that  the  Gospel  was  not  at  all  likely  to  get  any 
gcjieral  footing,  as,  in  many  cases,  there  was  scarcely  any 
communication  between  the  different  districts  of  the  same 
country. 

3.  That  tlie  conquests  of  the  Romans  were  extended  in 
this  island,  in  the  apostoiic  age,  we^iow  to  be  a  fact  suffi- 
ciently ascertained  by  history;  and  particularly  under  the 
emperor  Claudius,  who  came  here  in  person  about  A.  D. 
43;  and  an  ancient  inscription  has  given  some  learned  men 
cause  to  believe  that  the  Gospel  was  first  introduced  by  a 
Christian  lady,  named  Pomponia^  wife  to  Flautius^  one  of 
the  generals  of  the  Roman  emperor;  who  is  supposed  to 
have  made  the  Christian  doctrine  known  to  her  domestics, 
and  the  whole  circle  of  her  acquaintance,  whilst  resident  in 
Britain. 

4.  Tliat  St.  Paul  meditated  the  conversion  of  the  whole 
world;  and  proposed  to  carry  the  glad  tidings  of  Christ  cru- 
cified every  where,  his  own  history  sufficiently  proves.  We 
need  not,  therefore,  wonder  to  find  his  name  in  the  tradition- 
ary records,  among  those  who  first  planted  the  Gospel  in 
Britain.  St.  Clement,  who  was  contemporary  with  this 
apostle,  and  whose  epistles  are  still  preserved,  and  are  an  in- 
valuable record  of  the  remotest  Christian  antiquity,  (if  his 
words  be  not  misunderstood,)  is  supposed  to  assert  the  fact. 
The  passage  to  which  I  refer,  is  in  the  iifth  chapter  of  his  first 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians y  where,  speaking  of  St.  Paul,  he 

has  these  words,   >t>;^u|   yivoy^zvog  iv  -v/j  ocvxroKy;  yMi  iv  ryj  cTt/y-e/ — ii- 
KXiocvviiV  ^iSix^^,g  cAov  tov  y.O!Ty,ov  jwti   €7ri    to   n^uoi   Trfi    ^vaooc.      lie 


560  The  Introduction  of  the  Gospel 

.  became  a  Herald  to  the  East  and  to  the  West;  he  taught  the 
whole  world  righteousness,  coming  even  to  the  boundaries 
of  the  West.  By  the  words  rs^^ot  ry]<;  ^vs-iug,  the  boundaries 
of  the  West,  Bishop  Stillingfleet  strongly  argues,  that  Britain 
alone  is  intended;  though  others  suppose,  that  Clement  re- 
fers to  Spain. 

5.  To  St,  Feter,  and  to  Aristobulus,  one  of  the  domestics 
of  the  Roman  emperor,  mentioned,  Rom.  xvi.  20.  this  ho- 
nour has  also  been  given,  but  on  more  dubious  evidence, 
which  it  is  not  necessary  here  to  produce. 

6.  That  this  nation  was  converted  to  the  faith  of  Christ 
by  those  who  had  been  disciples  of  our  Lord,  was  the  early 
and  constant  belief  of^iir  forefathers.  This  runs  through 
all  our  historiesy  and  even  through  some  of  our  regal  acts. 
In  the  charter  granted  by  Henry  II.  in  the  Year  of  our  Lord 
1185,  for  the  rebuilding  of  Glastonbury  Church,  which  had 
been  burnt;  it  is  styled  '"''mater  sanctorum  tumulus  sanctorum., 
quam  ab  ipsis  discipulis  Domini  edifcatam,''''  "  the  mother 
and  burying  place  of  the  saints,  founded  by  the  very  disci- 
ples of  our  Lord;''''  and  adds,  venerabilis  habet  antiquorum, 
Quthoritas,  "  it  has  the  venerable  authority  of  the  ancients." 
In  the  same  charter  he  adds,  quafons  et  origo  totius  religio- 
nis  Anglice pro  ccrto  habetur;  "  which  is  incontrovertibly  ac- 
knowledged to  be  the  fountain  and  origin  of  the  whole  reli- 
gion of  England."  This  church  was  the  head  of  all  eccle- 
siastical authority  in  these  nations,  till  the  year  1154,  when 
Pope  Adrian  IV.  transferred  that  honour  to  St.  Albans. 

7.  The  story  of  Lucius,  king  of  Britain,  who  in  A.  D.  156, 
is  said  by  the  Venerable  Bede,  to  have  embraced  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  and  who  is  called  X\\q  first  Christian  king;  is  gen- 
erally known.  Bede  says  that  this  king  wrote  a  letter  to 
Eleutherus,  Bishop  of  Rome,  praying  that  he  might  be  in- 
structed in  the  Christain  faith;  which  was  accordingly  done. 
See  Bedce  Hist.  Eccles.  lib.  i.  c.  4.  Salutaris  lux  Evangelii, 
a  Fabi-icio,  p.  406,  ) 


mto  the  British  Isles.  561 

This  is  the  most  uncertain  of  all  the  traditions  which  we 
have  relative  to  this  important  event:  and  were  we  to  sup- 
pose, that  the  Christian  religion  wasjirst  introduced  here  un- 
der the  auspices  of  a  king  we  should  then  have  ojie  solitary 
proof  that  God  had  departed  from  his  general  way  ot'  dis- 
seminating His  truth  among  mankind;  which  is  beginning 
with  tliQ  LEAST,  and  going  to  the  greatest:  not  begin  ning 
with  Icings,  and  then  proceeding  to  their  subjects: — but  to 
hide  pride  from  man,  converting  the  lowest  even  of  the  sub- 
jects; and  by  their  means,  converting  the  kings  themselves. 
The  truth  seems  to  l^e  this,  that  although  Christianity  was 
introduced  here  long  before  the  time  of  Lucius;  yet,  Lucius 
knowing  the  Christian  religion,  and  finding  the  means  of 
propagating  it  in  his  own  district  were  very  inadequate, 
might  send  to  Eleutherus,  for  additional  help;  and  from 
this,  the  zealous  Romanists  might  take  occasion  to  say,  that 
king  Lucius  was  converted  by  Roman  missionaries* 

On  reviewing  all  these  alleged  authorities  for  the  early 
introduction  ot  Christianity  into  this  country;  it  may  be  said, 
"  The  traditions  themselves  render  the  thing  uncertain  and 
incredible;  the  same  fact  being  attributed  to  so  many  differ- 
ent persons."  I  confess  that  this  objection  has,  with  me, 
no  weight:  different  persons  may  be  consistently  enough 
said  to  have  introduced  the  Gospel  into  different  parts  of  the 
island;  some  in  the  Norths  some  in  the  South,  some  in  the 
JFest,  and  some  in  the  East:  for,  such  were  the  divisions 
and  government  of  the  Britons  in  those  ancient  times,  that 
Christianity  might  have  a  firm  footing  in  the  isle  oi  Avalon, 
without  being  known  in  the  isle  oi^  Thanet;  and  he  who 
brought  it  first  to  Kent,  might  suppose  himself  the  intro- 
ducer of  Christianity  into  England,  though  it  had  existed 
long  before  in  Somerset. 

Having  gone,  as  far  as  I  judge  necessary,  through  tradi- 
tions  which  must  be  allowed  to  be  less  or  more  uncertain, 
though  by  no  means  to  be  disregarded;  I  shall  come  now  to 
positive  testi?nony,  which  is  incapable  of  being  suspected; 

VOL.  ir.  415 


562  The  Introduction  of  the  Gospec 

and  which  will  prove  that  Christianity  had  an  establishment 
here,  long  before  the  Romish  Church  pretends  to  have  given 
our  countrymen  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel, 

1.  The  Jirst  decisive  testimony  I  meet  with  is  in  Ter- 
TULLiAN,  who  flourished  nearest  to  the  apostles,  about  the 
middle  of  the  second  century.  In  his  book  Adversus  Ju- 
dieos,  cap.  7.  De  Nativitate  Christi,  speaking  on  the  words 
of  David,  Psal.  xix.  4.  Their  line  is  gone  out  through  all  the 
earth,  and  their  words  to  the  end  oj  the  world.  "  In  whom,'* 
says  he,  "  have  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  believed,  but  in 
Christ?  Not  only  Parthians,  and  Medes,  and  Elamites,  and 
the  dwellers  in  Mesopotamia,  and  in  Judea,  and  Cappado- 
cia,  in  Pontus  and  Asia,  Phrygia  and  Pamphylia,  in  Egypt, 
and  in  the  parts  of  Libya  and  Cyrene,  and  strangers  of 
Rome,  Jews  and  Proselytes,  and  the  other  nations;  '  etiam 
Hispaniarum  omnes  termini,  et  Galliarum  diversce  natiojies,  et 
Britannorum  inaccessa  Romanis  loca,  Christo  vero  subdita^ 
&c.  but  also  all  the  boundaries  of  the  Spaniards,  all  the  dif- 
ferent nations  of  the  Gauls,  and  those  parts  of  Britain 
which  were  inaccessible  to  the  Romans,  are  become  subject 
to  ChrisL" — This  is  another  proof  that  the  Gospel  was 
established  here  before  the  middle  of  the  second  century;  and 
how  long  before^  we  cannot  pretend  to  say. 

2.  The  second  testimony  which  I  shall  produce  is  that  of 
Origen,  who  flourished  about  A.  D.  220.  In  his  fourth 
Hoinily  on  Ezekicl,  speaking  of  "  the  Prophecies  which  the 
Jev,s  allowed  to  refer  to  the  advent  of  the  Messiah,"  and 
particularly  on  the  words.  The  whole  earth  shall  shout  for 
joy,  he  says,  "  The  miserable  Jews  acknowledge  that  this  is 
spoken  of  the  presence  of  Christ;  but  they  are  stupidly  ig- 
norant of  the  person,  though  they  see  the  words  fulfilled. — 
Qua?ido  enim  terra  Britannia  ante  adventiun  Christi,  in  unius 
Dei  donsensit  religionem?  When,  before  the  advent  of  Christ, 
did  the  land  of  Britain  agree  in  the  worship  of  one  God? 
When  did  the  land  of  the  Moors,  when  did  the  whole  globe 
at  once  agree  in  this?   But  now,  on  account  of  the  churches 


into  the  British  Isles*  563 

which  are  spread  to  the  uttermost  bounds  of  the  v/orld,  tlie 
whole  ea?'th,  xvith  7'ejoicing^  invokes  the  God  of  Israel*'' — 
Origen.  Op.  Vol.  III.  p.  370.  From  this  it  is  evident, 
that  die  Christian  reUgion  had  been,  even  before  his  time, 
planted  in  Britain;  and  at  least  in  the  districts  best  known  to 
the  Romans,  it  had  pretty  generally  prevailed. 

3.  The  next  testimony  I  shall  produce,  is  that  of  St. 
Athanasius,  taken  from  his  Apologia  contra  Arianos^  c. 
1.  written  about  A.  D.  350,  where,  mentioning  his  trial  be- 
fore the  council  of  Sardis,  at  which  there  were  more  than  300 
Bishops  present,  s^  iTTtx-^x^m,  AiyvTrrov,  AjSut^f — IroiAta? — 2<x.£A«x?, 
A(^^tKyi?  TToic-yiC,  l.ipS'ctvici^,  Xttxvicov,  ToiAhiuv,  B^irruviuv    "  from  the 

provinces  of  Egypt,  Libya — Italy — Sicily,  all  Africa,  Sardi- 
nia, the  Spanish,  Gallic,  and  British  territories."  From 
which  we  find,  that,  in  his  time,  there  were  churches  in  the 
British  Isles;  and  their  Bishops  were  of  sufficient  conse- 
quence to  be  cited  to  this  grand  and  important  council. 

4.  The  last  testimony  which  I  shall  cite  from  the  An^ 
cientSf  shall  be  that  of  St.  Chrysostom,  who  flourished 
about  A.  D.  400.  In  his  work,  entitled  Oratio  contra  Ju- 
daos  et  Gentiles^  quod  Christus  sit  Deus,  Tom.  I.  p.  575. 
Edit.  Benedict,  after  shewing  that  in  a  very  short  space  of 
time,  the  knowledge  of  Christ  crucified  was  diffused  over 
the  world,  so  that  the  heathen  nations  were  converted  to 
God,  their  own  ancient  laws  and  customs  changed,  and  ido- 
latry destroyed,  so  that  Christian  solemnities  succeeded  to 
Pagan  mysteries,  he  adds  these  words:  "  In  every  place 
altars  are  erected  among  the  Romans,  Persians,  Scythians, 

Moors,  Indians,  t<  Agj/w;  uttj^  ryy  o/)cou^€v>jv  >ta6'  >j|Wci?,  KXi  yoe,^  ot,i 
BfiToiviKct'i  vi)(rci,  ai  t>j?  ^aKacr-rr,?  ejtrof  Y.ziy,ivo(,i  roivrri';,  aoti  iv  oivrw  o\j(roii 
rci)  coKicx,vic  xy,g  ivvccfxiug  tou  ^yjf^oiTO?  y,c-^ovro,  kch  ycc^  kccku  iKKhy^crnxi  KOii 

^\j<riocs-yi^ix  imryyxciv.  What  shall  I  say?  even  beyond  our  ha- 
bitable world:  for  the  islands  of  Britain,  which  are  situ- 
ated beyond  our  sea,  in  the  very  ocean  itself;  have  felt  the 
power  of  the  word:  and  even  there,  churches  are  built  and 
altars  erected." 


564t  The  Introduction  of  the  Gospel 

5,  A  strong,  and  what  I  may  consider  an  incontestibie 
proof  of  the  Jact,  that  Christianity  was  established  in  these 
islands  long  before  the  time  of  Gregory  the  Great,  and  St. 
Aui2:ustin,  who  is  improperly  called  the  apostle  of  England^ 
is  the  accounts  we  have  of  different  councils  held  here  for 
the  regulation  of  the  affairs  both  of  the  church  and  state  of 
Britain.  I  shall  mention  a  few  of  the  most  considerable;  and 
I  shall  mention  them  on  the  faith  of  our  monkish  historians, 
whose  testimony  will  not  be  called  in  question  by  the  ad- 
versaries of  the  1^7-otestant  religion  : — 

1.  The  Verolamian^  or  St.  Alban's  council,  held  A.  D. 
446,  in  order  to  repress  the  Pelagian  heresy,  which  was 
then,  by  means  of  Agricola,  one  of  the  disciples  of  Pelagius, 
contaminating  the  British  churches.  This  council  is  men- 
tioned by  most  ot  our  ancient  civil  and  ecclesiastical  histo- 
rians; Bede^  Matt,  of  TVestminster,  Henry  of  Huntingdony 
and  others. 

2.  The  Britannic  council,  held  A.  D.  449,  partly  for  the 
purpose  of  repressing  the  reviving  Pelagian  heresy;  and 
partly  to  consider  the  incestuous  marriage  of  king  Vortigerii 
with  his  own  daughter. — Mentioned  by  Matt,  of  Westmin- 
ster^ Nennius,  and  others. 

3.  The  Cambrian  council,  held  A.  D.  465,  for  electing 
Aurelius  Amhrosius  king  of  the  Britons.  Mentioned  by 
Matt,  of  Westminster. 

*4.  The  Britannic  synod,  held  A.  D.  512,  for  electing 
Theliaus,  bishop  of  Llandaff-  Mentioned  by  Giraldus  Cam- 
brensis,  and  Bale  : — who  is  not,  in  this  fact,  contradicted  by 
his  Popish  adversary  Fits. 

5.  The  British  convention,  held  A.  D.  516;  and  compo- 
sed, according  to  Geoffery  of  Monmouth,  of  all  the  arch- 
bishops, bishops,  abbots,  and  clergy  of  Britain,  for  the  coro- 
nation of  king  Arthur. 

6.  The  Menevensian  synod,  held  A,  D.  519,  against  the 
remains  of  the  Pelagian  heresy,  which  had  not  been  quite 
eradicated  from  Britain.  This  is  mentioned  hy  Bale  and  Gi- 


into  the  British  Isles.  365 

raldus  Camhrensis.  These,  and  other  councils  and  s^-nods  are 
mentioned  in  detail  in  the  Concilia  Mau:n£e  Britannias  et  Hi- 
hernias,  a  Davidc  Wilkins,  Vol.  i.  p.  1,  &.c. 

I  might  add  to  this,  that  we  are  assured,  that  there  were 
three  British  bishops  present  at  the  council  of  Aries,  held  A. 
D.  314.  That  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  there 
were  some  present  also  at  the  council  of  Aice^  held  A.  D. 
3'-25'y  and  that  there  were  several  British  bishops  at  the  coun- 
cil of  ./^ri;;2mm;«  fRimiiii;  held  A.  D.  359.  See  Spelmari's 
Concilia;  and  Sulpicius  Severus^  Hist.  Eccles.  b.  1.  It  is 
evident,  therefore,  that  there  was  not  only  Christianity  in 
Britain,  at  all  these  early  periods;  but,  also,  that  there  was  a 
regulated  church,  with  its  bishops,  who  were  thought  of 
sufficient  consequence  to  be  summoned  to  foreign  councils, 
where  matters  of  vital  importance  to  Christianity,  were  dis- 
cussed and  determined. 

It  would  be  easy  to  increase  the  number  of  such  testi- 
monies:  no  fact  is  better  proved  than  that  the  British  isles 
have  received  the  Gospel  of  Christ  from  the  very  remotest 
Christian  antiquity.  Nor  is  there  found  any  writer  of  credit 
from  the  first  century  downwards,  who  states  that  the  Bri- 
tish  isles,  had  not^  in  his  time,  received  the  doctrine  of  Christ. 
I  conclude,  therefore,  that  the  Gospel  was  established  here, 
as  early  as  even  our  traditions  state;  and,  very  probably,  by 
the  APOSTLES  themselves;  or  by  persons  immediately  de- 
puted by  them. 

It  would  be  wrong,  however,  to  omit  here,  the  account 
which  several  of  our  own  writers  give  of  the  mission  of  St.  Au' 
gustin  to  this  country,  about  the  year  597.  Some  authors 
would  fondly  persuade  us,  in  opposition  tq  all  the  testimo- 
nies already  produced,  that  the  whole  nation  was  Heathen 
till  converted  by  Augustin  and  his  monks.  This  is  the  ex- 
cess of  absurdity — that  there  might  be  some  districts  where 
Heathenism  prevailed  in  the  time  of  Augustin,  particularly 
among  the  Saxons  who  had  subjugated  several  of  the  north- 
ern parts  of  Britain,  is  quite  possible;   and  that  the  Deiri^ 


566  The  Introduction  of  the  Gospel 

the  people  who  dwelt  between  the  Humher  and  the  Tees^ 
were  such,  may  be  granted;  and  that  Augustin  was  the 
means  of  converting  those  Heathens,  and  others  who  were 
tinctured  with  idolatry,  may  be  granted  also:  but,  that  he 
first  introduced  the  Gospel  here^  is  insupportable:  because, 
contrary  to  the  faith  of  history,  regularly  deduced  through 
the  lapse  of  several  hundred  years. 

That  Augustin  prevailed  on  the  British  churches  to  re^ 
ceive  several  of  \h^  forms  and  dogmas  ol  the  Romish  church, 
there  can  be  but  little  doubt;  and  that  a  new  species  of  idol- 
atry^  the  -worship  of  angels^  saints^  images.,  and  relics,  arose 
out  of  this,  there  is  too  much  reason  to  believe;  but  that  he 
was  the  Apostle  of  Britain,  we  most  positively  deny. 

The  best  account  on  record,  of  Augustin' s  mission  to  Bri- 
tain, we  have  in  the  Saxon  homily  of  AE,lfric,  on  the  birth 
day  of  Gregory  the  Great,  written  about  nine  hundred  years 
ago.  The  account  is  in  substance  the  following,  which  I 
shall  occasionally  give  in  the  words  of  iElfric,  making  the 
translation  as  literal  as  possible,  as  it  may  be  a  matter  of 
some  innocent  curiosity  at  least,  to  hear  a  little  of  the  lan- 
guage of  our  forefathers;  and  to  observe  how  like,  in  many 
respects,  not\A'ithstanding  all  our  corruptions,  it  is  still  to  the 
basis  of  our  own. 

Some  time  before  Gregory  was  raised  to  the  Papal  chair, 
perhaps  about  A.  D.  584,  passing  one  day  through  the 
streets  of  Rome,  he  spied  some  beautiful  youths  exposed  to 
sale:  they  were,  says  JElfric,  "  white  complexioned,  and 
men  of  a  fair  countenance,  having  noble  heads  of  hair." 
*'  Struck  with  their  beauty,  he  enquired,  of  what  country  they 
were  brought?  And  the  men  said  to  him,  that  they  were  of  Eng- 
land. 

"  Gregory  asked,  whether  the  people  of  that  country  were 
Christians  Or  Heathens?  And  the  men  said  unto  him  that 
they  were  Heathens.  Gregory  then,  fetching  a  deep  sigh 
from  the  bottom  of  his  heart,  said,  wel  a  way!  (alas!  alas! ) 
that  men  of  so  fair  a  complexion  should  be  subject  to  the 
Prince  of  Darliness, 


into  the  British  Isles*  567 

"  He  then  enquired  how  they  called  the  ?iation  from  which 
they  came?  and  "  to  him  xvas  answered^  that  they  were  nam- 
ed Angle:  then^  quoth  he,  rightly  are  they  called  Angle,  for 
that  they  have  the  beauty  of  angels,  and  therefore,  it  is  fit 
that  they  should  be  companions  of  angels  in  heaven. 

"  Gregory  enquired  further,  what  the  sliire  (or  district,) 
named  was,  that  the  knaves  (young  men)  were  led  from?  And 
the  men  said,  that  the  shire  was  named  Deiri,^''  (a  part  of  the 
kingdom  of  the  Northumbrians,  between  the  Humher  and 
the  Tees.) 

"  Gregory  answered.  Well  they  are  called  Deiri,  because 
they  are  delivered  (de  ird  Dei  J  Jrom  the  wrath  of  God^  and 
called  to  the  mild  heartedness  (Mercy)  of  Christ. 

"  He  enquired  further,  what  is  the  name  of  the  king  of 
that  shire?  And  he  was  answered,  that  the  king  was  named 
iElla:  therefore,  Gregory  alluded  to  his  words  in  reference  to 
that  7iame,  and  quoth,  it  is  fit  that  hallelujah  should  be  sung 
in  that  land,  to  praise  the  Almighty  Creator.''^ 

Gregory  then  went  to  the  Pope,  (Pelagius  the  2d,)  and 
begged  permission  to  go  and  convert  England:  the  Pope  at 
first  consented;  and  Gregory  departed  on  his  mission;  but 
the  people,  with  whom  he  was  a  great  favourite,  tumultu- 
ously  assailed  the  Pope  with,  Fetrum  offendisti,  Romam  des- 
truxistif  quih  Gregorium  dimisisti.  "  Thou  hast  offended 
Peter,  thou  hast  destroyed  Rome;  for  thou  hast  sent  Grego- 
ry away."  "  The  Pope  was  therefore,  obliged  to  recal  him, 
though  he  had  proceeded  three  days  on  his  journey;  and.//M- 
gustin  was  sent  in  his  stead.  See  Elstob''s  Saxon  Homily,  p. 
17,  and  the  writers  there  referred  to. 

I  shall  not  detain  you  with  an  account  of  this  man's  jour- 
nies,  preaching,  and  success;  which  are  foreign  to  my  point: 
but  simply  state,  that  allowing  this  story  to  be  true,  and  the 
main  facts  I  shall  not  question:  I  would  just  observe,  1.  That 
Gregory  might  have  been  imposed  on,  by  those  slave-deal- 
ers, who  might  pretend  that  the  people  were  Heathens,  in 
order  to  lessen  the  enormity  of  their  crime,  in  thus  stealing 


568  The  Introduction  of  the  Gospel 

and  seilingtheir  brethren:  or,  2.  As  has  already  been  remarked, 
the  Saxons,  in  several  districts,  were  Heathens;  and  there 
mijjjht  have  been  some  remains  of  Heathenism  among  others 
of  the  Northumbrians;  from  among  whom,  it  is  said,  those 
young  men  came:  but,  3.  It  is  most  likely,  that  though  the 
mission  of  Aui^ustin  was  real^  the  story  o{ Heathenism  was  in- 
vented, or  greatly  exaggerated,  to  vindicate  the  pretensions  of 
the  Roman  pontiffs,  to  have  the  spiritual  domination  over  a 
people,  whom  they  pretended  to  have  first  converted  to  the 
Christian  faith;  as  Pope  Adrian  HI.  feigned  the  worse  than 
Heathen  state  of  the  Irish,  to  give  Henry  II.  A.  D.  1154,  au- 
thority to  subjugate  that  kingdom,  on  condition  that  he  might 
get  a  penny  annually  from  every  house  in  the  Island;  which 
money  was  afterwards  called  Feter-pence: — "  et  de  singulis 
domibus  annuam  unius  denarii  beato  Fetro  velle  solvere 
pensionein.^'' — See  Rymer's  Poedera,  vol.  i.  p*  10. 

But,  allowing  the  whole  of  this  story  without  abatement, 
and  that  the  heathen  Saxons  had  nearly  expelled  the  British 
Christians  both  from  the  eastern  and  northern  parts  of  this 
kingdom;  yet,  that  Christianity  had  never  been  extinct  in 
this  land,  from  its  earliest  introduction,  a  great  number  of 
historical  monuments  amply  prove. 

Again,  allowing,  also,  the  slave-story  to  be  fact  in  every 
particular;  and  it  is  certainly  told  by  grave  and  reputable 
authors;  then,  it  is  most  likely,  that  the  slaves  were  Britons; 
and  the  slave -dealers,  the  Saxons,  who  had  some  time  before 
invaded  their  country,  and  brought  them  into  bondage;  then, 
it  appears,  that  their  exposure  to  sale  by  their  oppressors, 
became  the  instrument  of  introducing  the  Christian  religion 
among  those  ferocious  invaders,  who  were  so  far  changed  by 
its  powerful  influence,  as  to  become  eminent  afterwards 
among  the  nations  of  the  world: — and  to  them  and  their  suc- 
cessors, we  owe  the  most  nervous  parts  of  our  language:  and 
some  of  the  best  of  our  civil  laws,  and  the  basis  of  our  char- 
ters of  liberty.  But  these  are  topics  foreign  to  the  object  of 
the  present  address.     Let  the  British  colonists  in  the  West 


into  the  British  hies.  569 

Indies  emulate  this  example;  and  if  they  have  been  the  means 
of  bringing  into  a  most  unnatural  bondage,  a  naturally  free 
people,  let  them  endeavour  to  compensate  the  services  of 
their  slaves,  by  the  blessings  of  Christianity!  What  do  I  say? 
Let  them  rather  learn  from  those  very  slaves^  the  knowledge 
of  Christ  crucified,  which  they  have  received,  and  are  receiv- 
ing, by  means  of  English  missionaries.  Who  is  he  whost" 
heart  does  not  burn  within  him  to  be  the  means  of  sending 
the  Christ  he  loves,  to  them  who  have  neither  heard  nor  felt 
the  power  and  salvation  of  his  name;  and  whose  lives  are  em- 
bittered by  the  cruelties  of  bondage. 

From  all  that  I  have  said,  it  will,  I  hope,  fully  appear, 
that  we  have  received  our  religion  from  the  apostohc  times; 
and,  most  likely,  by  means  oi  apostolic  missionaries: — for  the 
primitive  disciples  of  cur  Lord  received  his  command  in  the 
most  literal  sense,  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  tht 
gospel  to  every  creature:  and  my  brethren  in  the  ministr) 
will  pardon  me  if  they  think  I  carry  things  too  far,  when  j. 
say,  that  it  is  my  conscientious  belief,  that  the  same  com- 
mand is  still  binding  on  every  minister  of  Christ;  and  will 
continue ,  to  be  so,  while  there  is  one  district  of  the  globe, 
howsoever  small,  unconverted  to  the  Christian  faith.  And,  if 
these  things  be  so,  should  not  every  minister  of  Christ  lay 
this  especially  to  heart,  when  there  is  more  than  half  a  world, 
after  all  that  has  been  done,  on  which  the  light  of  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus  has  not  yet  shined? 

And  if  it  be  the  duty  of  the  preachers  to  carry  the  glad  ti- 
dings of  salvation  to  every  part  of  the  habitable  globe;  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  people  who  know  the  joyful  sound,  and  walk 
in  the  light  of  God's  countenance,  to  furnish  the  ?neans 
whereby  the  messengers  of  peace  may  be  supported  in  their 
arduous  undertaking. 

It  is  true,  that  God  must  open  the  door  of  faith  to  the  Ilea- 

theti;  and  we  should  wait  till  we  hear  a  voice,  as  in  a  certain 

case,  saying,  Come  over  to  Macedonia  and  help  us!   But  is 

not  this  door  opened  in  different  dark  parts  of  Europer-r-in 

VOL.  II.  4  C 


570  £he  Introduction  of  the  Gospel^  'iic. 

Africa — in  America,  and  the  almost  innumerable  islands  in 
that  part  of  the  globe?  and,  also,  in  Asia,  where  either  Pa- 
ganism  of  the  worst  species,  or  oppressive  and  degrading 
Mohammedanism,  governs  more  than  one  fourth  of  the  globe 
with  an  absolute  and  destructive  sway. 

The  call  from  these  different  regions  is  not  equivocal:  it 
is  clear,  distinct,  and  strong.  The  harvest  is  plenteous — the 
labourers  have  hitherto  been  hMtfew — too  few  in  so  vast  a 
field!  However,  there  have  been,  and  there  are  now,  labour- 
ers. Neither  prejudice  nor  bigotry  can  shut  our  eyes  against 
the  labours  and  success  of  others. 


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